NEWS BRIEFS Montgomery County unveils next cold case in new initiative
County considers newvotingmachines
BY ANDREW CHRISTMAN
elections that are scheduled for 2022 would make implementing a new system difficult, and mixing the old system with a new system is not compatible. The county used around 1,500 vot- ing machines in November. Harvey said the extra 400 would make up for the elections office being spread thin. No decision was made as the item was deferred to give commissioners more time to go over the information presented.
The Montgomery County Com- missioners Court started discussions to purchase around 1,900 new voting machines to replace outdated ones for county elections. Elections Administrator Suzie Harvey said newmachines are needed because the current machines were purchased in 2005, and getting replacement parts is difficult. The cost for replacing the machines is estimated between $8.5 million- $9 million. The cost would cover the hardware and software needed to create the election database and program all of the machines. “As it stands now, we were spread very thin for the November election as far as equipment,” Harvey said. “Especially when we added the ear- ly-voting locations that we needed, that spread our standby equipment even further. ... We are just at bare bones for another full-scale election like that.” Harvey added the number of
BY EVA VIGH
morning, her husband left to run errands with friends.
Multi-County Crime Stoppers and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office have unveiled the next cold case they are featuring in their Cold Case Warm Up initiative: the 2015 disappearance of Magnolia resident Danielle Sleeper. Cold Case Warm Up is a public initiative launched in February that aims to solicit leads for unsolved county crimes. Cold cases are featured on billboards throughout the Greater Houston area alongside contact details for anyone wishing to submit tips. According to a news release from Multi-County Crime Stoppers, 32-year-old Sleeper attended a bar- becue off Bowler Road near FM 1488 on the evening of March 21, 2015. Her husband stated they arrived at their home in Magnolia and went to sleep early March 22. Later that
When he returned that afternoon, Sleeper, her purse and her cell phone were missing.
Sleeper is described as a Caucasian female, 5’7” and 120 pounds with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. COURTESY MULTI-COUNTY CRIME STOPPERS
AGING EQUIPMENT Montgomery County officials discussed the need for new voting machines at a May 25 meeting.
Anyone with related information can contact Multi-County Crime Stoppers at 800-392-7867 or www.montgomerycountycrime stoppers.org. There is a reward of up to $21,000 for information leading to the felony arrest of any person related to Sleeper’s disappearance thanks to an anonymous donation. The increased reward is being offered for the next 12 months.
Current machines in use:
1,500
Machines needed:
1,900
SOURCE: MONTGOMERY COUNTY/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER Cost: $8.5M-$9M
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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