Coppell Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 38
Puzzle Enthusiasts Race to Finish First • Coming Soon: Sequel for Dormant Multiplex • Coppell Voters Love to Have Their Say • Kestrel Proposed as City’s Official Bird
I’ve got a sweet scoop mixed into this week’s edition of the Chronicle Crumbs, but let’s start with my favorite type of story: one you can’t find anywhere else.
Puzzle Enthusiasts Race to Finish First
Thousands of people converged at Buddy Echols Field to watch a playoff football game on Friday night, but I had the honor of being the lone spectator for a much different contest held 48 hours earlier.
On Wednesday evening, the Cozby Library and Community Commons hosted its first jigsaw puzzle competition for adults. The staff of Coppell’s public library purchased 12 copies of a 500-piece puzzle, and a dozen two-person teams raced to see who could assemble it the quickest.
The chosen puzzle was “Days to Remember - Country Road” from Buffalo Games & Puzzles. Molly Wright, a library technician who excels at jigsaw puzzles, gave it a test run to gauge its difficulty, and she completed it on her own in 100 minutes. The contest’s duos had a two-hour window. If nobody finished in 120 minutes, the winners would be the team with the fewest loose pieces when time ran out.
This contest was overseen by another library technician, Usha D’Silva, who was surprised by the level of interest. She originally envisioned a six-team competition, but she doubled the size of the field once the clamor for slots led to the creation of a waitlist.
Jenny and Craig Smith were among the eager competitors, as were their next-door neighbors Rachel and Grant Bibby. Keeping with the sportsy tradition of uniforms, the Bibbys showed up in matching tie-dyed T-shirts.
“We were all unexpectedly excited to do this puzzle competition,” Jenny Smith said with a laugh. “[The Bibbys] hired a babysitter. They had to pay money to do this!”
I noticed Rachel Bibby keeping an eye on the other tables’ progress as I strolled among them. Other competitors periodically glanced at the running clock projected onto a pair of giant screens. The room was eerily quiet, as you might expect of a contest in a library.
Not all of the contenders took things so seriously, though. After 46 minutes had elapsed, Laura Penton got up from her table and told D’Silva she had to leave to run an errand. Her husband, William Penton, continued working on the puzzle without her.
This amused your correspondent to no end. I was a sportswriter for the first few years of my career, and I can’t recall ever seeing a player leave a game I covered due to an errand. Imagine if Coppell quarterback Edward Griffin, who threw five touchdowns during Friday’s playoff game, had approached Antonio Wiley on the sideline and said, “Coach, I’ll be back in a few minutes. My mom asked me to go to the grocery store for eggs and milk.”
The Smiths connected puzzle pieces on Wednesday as easily as Griffin connected with his wide receivers on Friday, but Anne-Laure Guedes and Lauran Riad were right on their heels. The best friends who work together had about three dozen pieces left to go when the Smiths ended the contest after just 68 minutes. The couple’s “Done!” announcement led to a round of polite applause, but one rival who was only halfway through the puzzle uttered “What?” in a frustrated tone.
As champions, the Smiths earned a pair of Amazon gift cards. Guedes and Riad, who were the runners-up with a time of 70 minutes, won swag bags filled with Cozby-branded merchandise. But none of the competitors walked away empty-handed, as they all got to keep the puzzles they’d worked on.
If you’re sorry you missed out on the library’s first jigsaw contest, don’t worry — D’Silva assured me it won’t be the last.
Coming Soon: Sequel for Dormant Multiplex
Valley Ranch’s only movie theater has been shuttered for a couple of years, but the stars of Hollywood and Bollywood may soon return to its screens.
Last week, the Irving Planning and Zoning Commission and the Irving City Council both conducted hearings on a pair of zoning changes for the Fun Movie Grill. The multiplex’s owners, McKinney-based Thakkar Developers, want to sell alcohol throughout the entire building, and they want to expand the seating in its seven remaining auditoriums.
The Thakkar family purchased the property in 2018. In July of the following year, the City Council approved a zoning change to accommodate the addition of a bar and an entertainment area in the lobby. In April of 2021, the council approved a second proposal to eliminate nine of the 16 auditoriums and replace them with a variety of amusements, including bowling, axe throwing, and go-karts. A few months later, the building closed for renovations.
On Monday, Commissioner Bruce Burns pointed out that he and his peers were considering a third zoning change for this building, but “nothing ever happens out there.” He asked Thakkar Developers executive David Pagan, “Are your people ready to develop it today?”
Pagan assured Burns that development has been underway. He said the demolition is complete, and the renovation of the remaining theaters is almost finished. But the developers need a permit to install the seats, he said, and they can’t get that permit without a zoning change. That change was necessitated when his firm hired a new architect whose designs called for more seats than the current zoning allows.
Anticipating a similar question during Thursday’s council meeting, Pagan told Irving’s elected officials that $4 million worth of demolition and remodeling has been completed and $3 million worth of entertainment equipment has been ordered.
“There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes,” he said, “and you’ll begin to see some things on the outside soon.”
Council Member Brad LaMorgese, who lives across Interstate 635 in Hackberry Creek, made a motion to approve the requested zoning changes.
“This has been a great theater. It’s been kind of ‘our’ theater,” LaMorgese said, and he’s “really, hopefully excited to see it reopen soon for a variety of uses. I’d love for it to be a good addition to the community.”
The only dissenting vote came from Phil Riddle, who didn’t say anything during the public hearing nor did he speak up during the discussion in the council’s work session. Riddle, who represents a district on the opposite side of Irving, also cast the only vote against the facility’s previous zoning change in 2021, and he didn’t say anything then either. At least he’s consistent.
Coppell Voters Love to Have Their Say
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued a press release on Wednesday touting the fact that 14.4 percent of the state’s registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. She said that was the highest turnout for a referendum on amendments to the Texas Constitution since 2005. Meanwhile, Dallas County’s turnout rate was just shy of 12 percent.
In Coppell, however, we exceeded not only the county’s rate but also the state’s. I downloaded the numbers for the city’s 13 precincts, including the two in Denton County. My math shows 16 percent of Coppell’s registered voters participated in this election. Those results reinforce an opinion column I wrote for The Dallas Morning News back in May: “Coppell gets voter turnout right.”
In Precinct 2803 — which is south of Sandy Lake Road, west of Mockingbird Lane, north of East Belt Line Road, and east of Moore Road — the turnout rate for Tuesday’s election was a whopping 25 percent. Coppell’s runner-up was Precinct 2806, where 19 percent of registered voters cast ballots. That precinct is bounded by Phillips Drive, MacArthur Boulevard, Sandy Lake Road, and Moore Road.
Constitutional amendments weren’t the only things Coppell voters were considering.
Denton County Levee Improvement District No. 1: People who live east of Denton Tap Road and north of Denton Creek are residents of this district, which had a $27.3 million bond proposition on the ballot. Results in Dallas and Denton counties show the bond was supported by 66 percent of the 288 people who voted on it.
On Monday, a reliable source told me a voter who resides in that district received a ballot on Nov. 3, the last day of early voting, that did not include the bond proposition. My source said this voter was given a corrected ballot after pointing out the problem to workers at the polling place.
After receiving this tip, I asked two friends who reside in the levee district whether they had voted early and whether their ballots included the bond proposition. The first friend I contacted said it was on her ballot, but the second one said it was missing from his.
Julianne Kugle, a Houston-based attorney who serves as the district’s general counsel, told me on Wednesday that she had communicated with several residents in both counties who confirmed the bond proposition was on their ballots. She added that the district’s directors — Ben Carruthers, Richard Ching, and Jack Davis — arranged for a mailer to be sent to all affected property owners about a week before early voting started.
“Voter turnout was higher than we anticipated for the bond proposition,” Kugle said.
Further research indicates the bond proposition couldn’t have been missing from too many ballots. Voters in only three Dallas County precincts were eligible to participate in this election, so I pulled the results for those precincts and found virtually no variations in two of them (Precincts 2807 and 2911) when comparing the vote totals for the bond proposition to the vote totals for constitutional amendments. In the third precinct (2805), 67 individuals’ votes on the bond were recorded, while the number of voters weighing in on the amendments ranged from 65 to 71.
Lewisville ISD: Nearly 100 voters in the Denton County portions of Coppell cast ballots in the school district’s $1.23 billion bond election. There were six bond propositions on the ballot, and only two of them passed. Although the two winning propositions were supported by 62 percent (general projects) and 54 percent (technology purchases) of Lewisville ISD voters, only 47 percent of the district’s Coppell voters favored the general proposition and only 35 percent voted for the one related to technology.
Voters rejected four propositions that concerned athletics. Three of those were specifically about stadiums, natatoriums, and indoor practice facilities. The highest level of support districtwide for any of the athletics propositions was 44 percent, but they were much less popular in Coppell. The best any of the athletics propositions did among Coppell residents was 29 percent.
Kestrel Proposed as City’s Official Bird
The American kestrel is our nation’s smallest falcon. It’s also known as the sparrow hawk and, more formally, “falco sparverius,” but it may soon have an additional designation: Coppell’s official bird.
That was a proposal that Aamir Tinwala made to the Coppell Parks and Recreation Board last Monday. He’s a sophomore at St. Mark’s whose mother, Zainab Tinwala, happens to be a member of the board. Aamir’s interest in birds and conservation was sparked during the COVID quarantine era. He said he’s built 180 nesting boxes to protect small birds such as Carolina chickadees, Carolina wrens, and Northern cardinals.
Aamir said designating a city bird could help the local ecosystem, promote awareness of conservation, and boost civic pride. In his presentation, which you can download at the link below, he said the peregrine falcon was named the official bird of Rockford, Illinois, in 2020, as documented in the Rockford Register Star. Last May, WIFR-TV reported that a pair of peregrine falcons had successfully hatched baby birds in downtown Rockford for the sixth time.
Aamir said kestrels are not endangered, but they are threatened. The national population has declined by more than 50 percent since the 1970s.
“Kind of like how the bald eagle serves as a symbol for America, this can kind of serve as a symbol for conservation, but at a lower scale,” he said.
Board member Margaret Bryan said she liked that “Coppell” and “kestrel” sound alike, but she asked why that particular species should be the city’s official bird. Aamir said the kestrel was suggested by Jonathan Ward, a recreation supervisor at the city’s Biodiversity Education Center, who helped him prepare his presentation. Ward said some of them have been seen in Coppell, and there’s a “pretty strong” kestrel population in Lewisville.
“We’re just working on making better green infrastructure through some of our butterfly waystations,” Ward said. “It’s kind of a double-edged sword, you know? When we help out the monarchs, we’re going to help out the kestrel population. So we’re doing things like that, and we’re hoping to bring some of those kestrels here.”
Ward said the banks of Denton Creek are “prime habitat” for kestrels, and there’s also plenty of space for them among the 66 acres at the Coppell Nature Park. He said the Biodiversity Education Center’s staff could help residents make nesting boxes to place in parks or their yards.
When board member Maureen Corcoran asked for an explanation of what a nesting box is, Aamir said it’s a blander version of a birdhouse, more utilitarian than decorative. “You won’t put food or water in it or anything,” he said. “It’s kind of just a safe little house just used to promote and protect the young.” Corcoran had a funny line about adding a nesting box to her property:
“I don’t have to pay taxes on it — yet. Maybe the value of my kestrel home will go up.”
Although the hedgehog is the city’s mascot, Director of Community Experiences Jessica Carpenter said Aamir’s proposal to designate an official bird is the first of its kind. Carpenter said she would ask City Secretary Ashley Owens whether the City Council needs to weigh in. If not, the Parks and Recreation Board could make a decision at their next meeting.
One more note about animals from Monday’s meeting: Carpenter said our recent rain has replenished Duck Pond Park’s namesake pond, which led to a repopulation. “Wildlife know how to wildlife, and they leave, and they come and go naturally,” she said. Once the pond refilled, the animals returned. “It’s full of ducks and turtles and all of the same things that have always been there.” Carpenter added that the park’s renovation is 75 percent complete.
Chronicle Crumbs
• As mentioned in the jigsaw puzzle article, the Coppell High School varsity football team won their playoff game against Denton Guyer on Friday by a score of 35-21. That was the Cowboys’ first postseason victory since 2017. Up next is a showdown with the Jesuit Rangers that’s set to kick off at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Ford Center in Frisco.
• The members of the Coppell Planning and Zoning Commission will miss that game, because they’re scheduled to meet on Thursday. Their agenda includes a public hearing on a zoning change proposed for a two-story building that’s almost complete in Old Town. Property owner Diana Ahmad wants to bring in a tenant known as Mr. Henry’s Real Fruit Ice Cream. I’ll have more details in next week’s edition, but in the meantime, here’s a look at the proposed sign:
• The agenda for Tuesday’s Coppell City Council meeting includes a few cases that the Planning and Zoning Commission considered last month. Noticeably absent from Tuesday’s agenda is the case I wrote about in “Short-Term Rental Has Long List of Issues.” Given how that hearing went, maybe the owners of the Crestview Court castle didn’t want to bother with another.
• J. Macklin’s Grill cleaned up at the 15th annual Taste of Coppell on Nov. 4, earning the Top Taste Award (as scored by guests), the Golden Fork Award (as scored by judges), as well as the Best Entree and Best International awards. The Coppell Chamber of Commerce has a complete list of winners.
• Coppell Youth Soccer Association Executive Director Angela Lancaster asked me to mention that registration is now open for the spring season.
• If you want to participate in Coppell’s Holiday Parade, which is scheduled for the evening of Dec. 2, your registration deadline is 5 p.m. on Nov. 24.
Community Calendar
Coppell Holiday House: The annual gift and craft show benefiting Project Graduation — a safe all-night party for the Class of 2024 — is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today at Coppell High School. More than 50 artisans are expected to hawk their wares.
Mixed Feelings: The Coppell Community Chorale’s annual fall concert is scheduled for 3 p.m. today at the Coppell Arts Center.
Coppell Gifted Association: Brian Timm, CISD’s Director of Mathematics, will be one of the speakers at the meeting scheduled from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Monday in the Pinkerton Elementary School cafeteria.
Assistance League of Coppell: Jacaranda Gift Shop owner Sarah Carrick will share her store’s varied offerings during the meeting scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday in Room 236 at Valley Ranch Baptist Church. Gather to visit at 11:15. The new ornament featuring the Coppell Senior Center will be available for purchase, as will past years’ ornaments.
Friends of the Coppell Public Library Big Book Sale: The sale is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, and from 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 19 at the Cozby Library and Community Commons.
Gobble Wobble 5K and Fun Run: These races benefiting Coppell Animal Services are scheduled for 8 a.m. on Saturday at Andrew Brown Park East.
Coppell Lions Club Wine Fundraising Event: Raise a glass and raise some money with the Coppell Lions Club at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.
The idea of a Coppell bird is a fun idea. When we moved into our first home in February of 1980, no birds lived in Coppell. There were very few trees. I’d throw bread out in the backyard, but no birds came to feast of the morsels. I even tried bird seed, but no luck. I thought my toddler sun would like to watch the birds. Needless to say, squirrels were no where to be found either. Now there are trees and squirrels galore!
As always, thanks for the behind the scenes reporting and updates on items of interest to Coppell residents. And I had no idea the hedgehog was the official city animal.