Hopkins County Commissioners Vote to Lower Tax Rate
August 14, 2023 – Hopkins County Tax Assessor-Collector Debbie Pogue Jenkins made the recommendation to the court Monday morning to lower the effective tax rate for county residents. The recommendation came as a result of an increase in the overall valuation of properties in the county as over 900 new properties were added to the tax rolls. The current tax rate for Hopkins County is set at .523900/$100 or a little over 52 cents...
FBI Seeks Victims in Investor or Other Financial Scams
August 11, 2023 – With the recent indictment of a local resident for what the Federal Bureau of Investigations is calling an investment scam, the Dallas FBI office is still looking for victims of this or any other scam from local residents. George Lewis Parsons, Jr. was indicted on July 12, 2023 on six counts of wire fraud totaling $3 million. Parsons and his attorney are set to respond to the federal court on August 14, 2023...
Wildfires Affect America’s Farms and Ranches by Mario Villarino
Wildfires affect America’s farms and ranches, damaging and destroying homes, barns, agriculture production facilities, crops and livestock. By the time this article gets to your hands, twelve wildfires are occurring in Texas at different stages of development. Much of this damage can be avoided, or at least minimized, if a few precautions are taken to minimize the risk and spread of wildfires. I. BEFORE Precautions should be taken...
Hopkins County – No Burn Ban, But Caution Advised
August 10, 2023 – The latest Drought Map from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows Hopkins County to have a “No Drought” rating as of August 8th, 2023. As surrounding counties, mostly to our South and West are showing to start increasing in their drought rating, some are beginning to enforce burn bans in their counties. Officials in Hopkins County have not yet announced a burn ban for local residents but do advise county...
Smokey Bear Turns 79
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M Forest Service encourages Texans to celebrate Smokey Bear’s 79th birthday today by being extremely cautious with all outdoor activities that create heat or sparks. As a national icon and the longest-running public service campaign in the United States, Smokey Bear has been teaching millions of people how to prevent wildfires since 1944. “With increased wildfire activity across Texas, Smokey...
Hopkins County Chamber Connection August 8th
New Intern at Chamber The Chamber of Commerce would like to welcome home a native son who has a distinguished and decorated military career for more than three decades. We welcome Joel Newsom to the team here at the Chamber, where he will serve as an intern for the next three plus months. A native of Hopkins County, Joel graduated from Como-Pickton High School in 1990 and joined the US Army. After serving as an infantry officer in...
2023 Back-To-School Sales Tax Holiday This Weekend Aug 11-13
Sales Tax Waived On Qualifying School Supplies, Clothes, Shoes and Student Backpacks Priced Under $100 This Weekend in Texas If you’re planning to buy school clothes or supplies, waiting until this weekend to do so could prove monetarily advantageous as this weekend is the annual sales tax holiday in Texas. State law exempts sales tax on qualified items — such as clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks — priced below...
EDC Executive Director to Retire
Roger Feagley Announces Retirement – Chris Brown Chosen As Successor The Sulphur Springs-Hopkins County EDC will see a passing of the torch after almost 2 decades of success with Roger Feagley at the helm. Roger has announced he will retire in January, 2024, which will mark 19 years of service, providing assistance and resources of over $14m to nearly 40 local companies and projects. “It has been a pleasure to serve the Sulphur...
Juan Hernandez-Ruiz Charged with Murder
A Sulphur Springs resident was arrested at 4:40am early Sunday morning, August 6, 2023 after a report of a man covered with blood in the 700 block of Texas St. Sulphur Springs police officers responded to the scene at 4:10am to find Giovanni Lopez in the street bleeding from his injuries. Juan Hernandez-Ruiz, 2023 During the investigation, officers learned that the victim had been in an altercation earlier in the evening with a...
Hopkins County Resident Indicted on Six Counts of Wire Fraud
Lewis Parsons is a self-described visionary and technological guru. Since descending on Hopkins County from Rockwall a couple of years ago, he has attempted to immerse himself into the fabric of all things Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County. From living in a loft apartment on Main street, to occupying the “Lowry Mansion” on I-30 in Saltillo. His list of business ventures and connections go on and on, but those connections...
