Author: Brian Bearden

A Police Recruit Civil Service Entrance ExaminationOpens in New Window will be held at 8 on Saturday, February 15, 2020. The exam will be held at the Plano ISD Sockwell Center, 6301 Chapel Hill Boulevard, Plano, TX 75093.

Judge Chris Hill has appointed Kyle Armstrong, Scott Burchett, Pete Carey, Tony Ewing, Mabrie Jackson, Linda Paulk, Amanda Rockow, and Robb Temple to the Collin County Business & Industry Advisory Council.

Judge Hill established the Council in 2019 to promote communication and cooperation between the county government and business and industry leaders, and to provide a forum for the county judge to gather advice, counsel, and feedback on topics that impact the business community within the county.

Kyle Armstrong was recently named as the new Chief Operating Officer of Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, having served as president of Baylor Scott & White Medical Center McKinney since July 2016. Armstrong is recognized as a results-driven, relationship-oriented leader who has experience and expertise in leading dynamic health care organizations. Before joining Baylor Scott & White McKinney, Armstrong served as administrator and CEO of Baptist Memorial Hospital Collierville, an acute care hospital in Collierville, Tennessee.  Armstrong earned master’s degrees in both health administration and business administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He earned his undergraduate degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Armstrong has been a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives since 2014.

Frisco RoughRiders Chief Operating Officer Scott Burchett is entering his 17th season with the franchise.   The Frisco RoughRiders are the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers and play their games at beautiful Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas. The team was founded in 2003 and has finished first among all Double-A franchises in attendance in each of the last 15 seasons (2005-2019). Scott was named the 2017 Bill Valentine Executive of the Year Award, which was voted on by executives representing all Texas League teams. Prior to joining the RoughRiders, Scott worked for MLB.com. He was born and raised in Garland, Texas, and attended Baylor University. He resides in McKinney, Texas, along with his wife Caroline and their three children.

Pete Carey is Toyota Financial Services™ (TFS) group vice president of Sales, Marketing, Insurance and Product, responsible for over 800 associates in 30 field offices and 3 regional offices.  He oversees marketing; finance, lease and insurance products; and remarketing of TFS and Toyota Motor Sales (TMS) off-lease and fleet vehicles. Carey began his career at TFS in 1993 and has since held key positions in a variety of areas within TFS and across the country. His broad experience at TFS includes dealer credit, collections, customer service center development, and field services management. Before his current role, Carey was vice president and general manager, San Francisco Region at TMS, where he was responsible for sales, service and parts, marketing, customer service, market representation and distribution for dealers in the San Francisco region.  Before that, he served as vice president of sales at TFS, where he was responsible for maximizing acquisitions and delivering on sales objectives for TFS while working with key stakeholders including Toyota and Lexus dealers and division partners. Carey also served as corporate manager of commercial finance. Under his leadership, TFS delivered a $100 million year-over-year turnaround in 2011. Carey earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York.

Tony Ewing is the founder and President of Advanced Fixtures Inc. AFI, founded in 1983, is a national retail store fixture manufacturer located in Farmersville Texas. AFI is a six-time recipient of the SMU Cox School of Business Dallas 100 award; and has received the Collin County 60 award four times. Tony was an early investor and served on the board of directors and loan committee of Vision Bank and Trust in Richardson. He and his wife, Connie, live in Frisco. They have 3 adult children.

Mabrie Jackson joined H-E-B/Central Market as Director of Public Affairs in March 2016. Jackson comes to the Texas-based retail grocer from the North Texas Commission, where she served as President and CEO from 2010-2016 and as the 45-year-old organization’s first female leader. Jackson brings to H-E-B a varied background that includes public service through a seat on the Plano City Council, roles with Fortune 500 companies (Microsoft and EDS) and serving as the interim President and CEO of the Plano Chamber of Commerce. After stepping down from the Plano City Council in 2009, Jackson ran for the Texas Legislature as the Republican primary and run-off election candidate for the Texas House District 66 seat. An advocate for global trade, Jackson currently serves as the Honorary Consul for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dallas. Jackson currently serves as a trustee on the HCA Medical Centers of Plano and Frisco Board of Trustees, a member of the DFW Consular Corps, a member and former Chairman of the Advisory Council for the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, and on the Prison Entrepreneur Program (PEP) Advisory Board.  She is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. Jackson previously served as President of the Collin County Child Protective Services Board, on the University of North Texas President Search Committee, a Governor’s Appointee to the Statewide Health Coordinating Council, on the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, a member of the Vistra Energy (formerly Energy Future Holdings) Sustainable Energy Advisory Board, Vision North Texas Management Committee, the North Central Texas Council of Governments Clean Air Steering Committee, AT&T Performing Arts Center Communications Committee, Texas Association of Business Board, H. Wayne Hendrick Scholarship Board, the Assistance Center of Collin County Board, and as a member of several National League of Cities and Texas Municipal League committees.  Jackson has a graduate degree from SMU and is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and Plano Senior High School. While attending UT, she served as a legislative assistant in the Texas House of Representatives. She is also a graduate of the Georgetown University Global Leadership Program. Mabrie is married to Marshall Jackson, and they have two sons.

Linda S. Paulk has over 30 years of successful leadership performance in for-profit, non-profit and public agency board experience. She currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sky Ranch Christian Camps, one of the nation’s leaders in Christian Camping and Conference Centers with facilities in Texas, Colorado and Oklahoma, and has held this position for over 12 years. During her tenure she led the organization out of debt, built a successful fundraising arm, acquired two new camps, established cash reserves, restructured the organization to support the growth, increased revenue over 60%, and increased number served by 30,000. Linda has a unique ability to nurture a culture with a healthy blend of business and ministry. From 1990-2006, Linda was employed by Snelling and Snelling, Inc., one of the country’s largest staffing firm with over $350,000,000 in annual sales and over 300 offices nationwide. She served as President and Chief Executive Officer from 2002-2006. Linda’s experience includes sales, marketing, operations, franchising strategic planning, bi-furcated delivery approaches, and mergers & acquisitions. Linda started the company’s national accounts division which quickly grew to $100,000,000 in sales with margins 5% higher than the industry average. Linda worked her way from an entry level sales position to leadership positions providing the opportunity to gain skills in every area of business. She ultimately navigated the company through a sale. Linda’s passion for helping others goes far beyond business. She has been and remains active on many non-profit and for-profit boards, including DART, American National Bank, YPO, Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center, Crystal Charity, The PISD Education Foundation, Hope for the Heart, Need Him Global, The Joe Foss Institute, and more. Linda is married to her high school sweetheart, Bob, and they are blessed with two grown children and five grandchildren. Linda and her family are members of Prestonwood Baptist Church. Linda holds a degree in business from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Amanda Rockow has served as Vice President for Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Dallas – Collin County’s premier major public research university – since 2006. As the chief government relations officer for the university, Rockow manages the government and community relations activities while working to build and maintain relationships with key elected officials and agency representatives. She is member of the board of the Plano Chamber of Commerce and is a past chair of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and of the Dallas Friday Group.

Robb Temple is the Chief Government Affairs Officer for Independent Bank, overseeing all legislative activities and association management for the bank in Texas, Colorado and Washington, D.C. Prior to joining the bank in July 2009, Robb was the CEO of Pathfinder Credit Solutions, a credit brokering services firm. Additionally, he has over 35 years of government affairs experience working at senior levels for Credit Data Services Florida, TRW/Experian and JCPenney. In his community service, Robb is past President of the Board of Trustees and current Board member of the McKinney Christian Academy; past President of the Board and current Advisory Council member for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County; past Board Trustee of the McKinney Independent School District; founding member and past Chairman of the McKinney Economic Development Corporation; and a former board member of the McKinney Summer Musicals.​ Additionally, he serves or has served on the board of directors for the Independent Bankers Association of Texas; as past vice chairman of the Credit Data Industry Association; as past president of the Credit Industry Resource Council; as past chairman of the International Credit Association; as past chairman-elect of the National Retail Federation (Credit Management Division); and on the board of directors of Consumer Credit Counseling Service, North Central Texas. ​Robb earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of California, Davis, where he was team captain of the regional-qualifying Aggies baseball team, was a member of the Captains Council, and was named to the All-Far West Conference team. In 2015, Robb was selected to the Army Navy Academy Sports Hall of Fame. Robb and his family currently reside in McKinney where he enjoys spending time with his wife Lisa, a local artist, and their three children.  Robb and Lisa attend The Parks Church in McKinney and he continues to be an avid sports fan.

Previous appointees to the Business & Industry Advisory Council include David Bristol, Nick Ganter, Keresa Richardson, and Nathan Sheets.

Local arrests in Collin County Texas

19-year-old white female charged with injuring family member

22-year-old white female charged with theft

23-year-old male charged with manufacturing, possession and evading arrest

30-year-old black female charged with multiple thefts, forgery and more

30-year-old Hispanic male with multiple tattoos charged with possession of drugs and evading arrest

37-year-old white female with two tattoos arrested for theft

43-year-old Hispanic male charged with unauthorized use of vehicle

See more

New Plano Police Chief Ed Drain is not new to Plano.

Drain has been hired away from Amarillo, Texas, where he has been police chief since 2016.

Drain replaces Gregory Rushin, who is now Deputy City Manager in Plano.

Drain’s background: In Plano, Drain has been on patrol, neighborhood policing, traffic, SWAT and bomb squad.

Military: Drain served in Iraq with Army.  He was an explosives ordnance disposal officer. He retired as a Lt. Colonel with 24 years of service.

Education: MBA from Amberton. Bachelor’s from UT-Arlington in law enforcement. Certificate in management from UT-Dallas. Training: He graduated from the FBI national academy. He also graduated from the Institute for Law Enforcement Administration schools of police supervision and executive leadership.

Plano promotions: Drain has moved up to sergeant, lieutenant, captain and assistant chief. He was assistant chief for 10 years before hired away by Amarilo.

Plano City Council members will have a chance to formally approve the hire on Monday.

Allen and Dallas Police made two arrests on Thursday in connection with recent shootings in the area. Police said the two are suspected in some gun shot reports in Plano and Allen.

On Monday afternoon an SUV driver called police after the vehicle was struck on rear door on driver’s side. Minutes later, police said the gun men aimed at a cyclist.

In Allen, police reported a 19-year-old Plano man was shot while riding his bike on Allen Heights near Bethany on Monday. He was hit in the leg and arm and was taken to Medical Center of Plano. He was treated and released.

A 22-year-old from Allen and a 21-year-old from Dallas have been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and also deadly conduct. The Dallas man was arrested by Dallas Police.