SKYWARN Storm Spotter Class February 6th, 2020
The National Weather Service will be in town for a free severe weather training session. In 2019, North and Central Texas experienced 40 tornadoes and several damaging straight-line wind events. These storms resulted in millions of dollars of damage. The 2020 severe weather season is not too far away, and the National Weather Service and local emergency management officials want you to be ready.
To get ready, you are invited to this year’s SKYWARN Storm Spotter Class. The National Weather Service will be offering this free class on Thursday, February 6th, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The program will be held at the Sulphur Springs City Hall in Sulphur Springs and is held in partnership with the Sulphur Springs Police Department.
This class is for established storm spotters, anyone with an interest in severe weather, and/or anyone who wants to learn more about the severe weather threats in North and Central Texas and how to be prepared. This is part of a regional severe weather preparedness campaign, which will include spotter training sessions in many counties in North and Central Texas. Other classes in the region can be found on the full schedule http://www.weather.gov/fwd/skywarnsch?sptrsch. This class is free of charge and no pre-registration is necessary.
This year’s program will feature an in-depth review and study of the various threats posed by severe thunderstorms. The program will also review thunderstorm characteristics and features associated with severe and non-severe storms. Additionally, the program highlights severe weather safety and how you can report severe weather information back to the National Weather Service and local public safety officials.
“By coming to this training session, you will gain a better understanding of Texas’ severe weather season,” says Tom Bradshaw, Meteorologist-in-Charge of the NWS Fort Worth Office. “Waiting until storms are on your doorstep is not the time to start thinking about severe weather preparedness. We hope you attend these free sessions to learn more about the severe storms that impact the region every year.”
The Hopkins County severe weather program is one of over 35 training sessions that the Fort Worth National Weather Service Office will conduct between January and March 2020. The National Weather Service in Fort Worth provides forecasts, warnings, and weather services for 46 counties in North and Central Texas. For more information on severe weather, visit our
website at http://weather.gov/fortworth, on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NWSDallasFortWorth and on Twitter: @NWSFortWorth.
Chamber Connection — Jan. 23, 2020
By Lezley Brown, Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce president/CEO
Who is ready to be a light in 2020? It is with great pleasure that the 2020 Board of Directors invites you to the 94th Annual Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m. at the Hopkins County Regional Civic Center. Tickets are already going fast! We will host a Networking Cocktail Happy Half Hour at 6 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m., and the awards will follow at 7 p.m.
Please take this opportunity to bring your family, friends, and employees to an evening of dinner and community awards including Large and Small Business of the Year, Educator of the Year, Caregiver Award, Agriculturist of the Year, Woman of the Year, Growth and Renewal Award, Community Pride Award and Citizen of the Year.
Our banquet theme is “Be the Light” and focuses on positivity and community pride moving into the next decade. It promises to be one of our most beautiful and unusual banquets to date. We are excited for you and your business to join us for this extraordinary evening.
Please make your reservation TODAY by calling the Chamber of Commerce, (903) 885-6515, or by stopping by to visit at 110 Main St. in Sulphur Springs.
Hoops Dreams Basketball is accepting players
Hoop Dreams Basketball is a league made up of special needs children from ages 5 to 21. There is no cost to play, but players must register for t-shirts sizes and to get the coaches lined up. The Pilot Club of Sulphur Springs will host this league for the thirteenth year along with volunteer coaches from the Lions club. Please contact Beverley Owens at 903-348-5121 or any Pilot Club member for registration form or information about Hoop Dreams basketball.
Julia Wilhite State Farm hosts anniversary ribbon cutting celebration
Julia Wilhite State Farm will host a one-year anniversary ribbon cutting celebration on Wednesday, Jan. 29, at noon. This office is located at 1030 Gilmer St. Please make plans to attend and wish Julia congratulations on her first year at State Farm!
Uptown Cutts hosts their ribbon cutting celebration
Uptown Cutts, located at 1402 Mockingbird Lane in Sulphur Springs, will host their ribbon cutting celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at noon. Please join us at the celebration for networking and congratulating Uptown Cutts.
A Few Simple Rules For Tree Pruning
By Dr. Mario Villarino, Texas AgriLife Extension Agent, Hopkins County, agriculture/natural resources
According to Oregon Extension Services, Forestry & Natural Resources Extension, there are many reasons people pick up a saw or loppers to prune up their trees in young stands. The most common motivations I hear are accessibility, aesthetics and fire resistance/prevention.
Even pruning up just a single 8 foot “lift” can serve any or all of those objectives. People want to be able to walk freely around the place without fighting through dense brush the whole way. So many prune to open trails or corridors. This allows them to get to favorite spots more easily, or just get around and see how things are doing. It lets them enjoy the property more (daily walks or bird watching) and also to more easily take care of tasks like spot-spraying invasive weeds.
Pruning a whole block of trees improves not just access, but opens up the line of sight. It quickly changes the look and feel of a young stand and gives the stand an open aesthetic that many people like.
Some people prune up a young stand to increase its fire resistance by getting flammable branches up off the ground. This may be a particularly strong motivation if their property borders a public road, in which case it might make sense to also pull back the pruning slash a few rows in to help keep the ground bare. There are also some people who are inspired by the thought of their trees producing clear, knot-free wood in the years to come.
Pruning does take some time and exertion, but is pretty straight forward if you follow a few simple rules:
- If pruning into the live crown, you should get it done from the late fall to late winter, rather than summer. The bark is now tight and insect pests such as the sequoia pitch moth are less likely to be attracted to wounds made in the winter. Pruning dead branches is OK any time.
- Prune close, but not flush with the trunk. This prevents injury to both the bole of the tree and the branch collar. The collar is the raised area at the base of the branch. Leaving the collar allows the tree to heal over the pruning wound more quickly. It is better to leave a stub than cause injury to collar or bole. Something to keep in mind if using power tools.
- When pruning young trees, be careful not to be too enthusiastic. The rule of thumb is to leave at least half the tree’s total height in live crown.
- Be mindful of potential sun scald. Factors increasing damage risk include: edge trees with southwest exposure, drought conditions, pruning in late summer before the rains, leaving the minimum live crown ratio.
- Cedar trees pose a challenge to prune: The problem with trimming a cedar tree is that every cedar has a dead zone in the center of the canopy. The new green growth is dense. It blocks the sunlight from the older growth beneath and without light, it dies. The outer green growth does not extend very deep into the tree. If you are pruning cedar trees and you cut branches back into the dead zone, they will not regrow.
For more information on this or any other agricultural topic, please contact the Hopkins County Extension Office at 903-885-3443 or email me at [email protected].
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta Liked the Way the Wildcats Bounced Back Tuesday
Prior to the Wildcats Basketball Team’s always big game with rival Mount Pleasant, Coach Clark Cipoletta had a talk with his team about regaining their pride. The Wildcats entered Tuesday night’s home game 0-1 in district play after a stunning loss to Greenville Friday night. Coach Cipoletta told his players Greenville had taken their pride from them and they had to earn it back. Consider mission accomplished as the Wildcats took a 72-54 win over the Tigers. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats attitude, focus and sense of urgency was different than it was against Greenville. He had said the Mount Pleasant game would be a good test for the Wildcats’ leadership after the district loss. He said his four seniors lead the way by controlling their emotions and keeping from being too high or too low during the game. Coach Cipoletta however got the biggest game from a junior, point guard Lamodrick Johnson. Johnson drove to the basket time after time scoring 26 points. Coach Cip calls Johnson a one-person press breaker. He said LJ is hard to pressure and one who sees what most other players don’t. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats’ rebounding was much improved against Mount Pleasant. He said he could recall only about two missed block outs against the Tigers. He said there were 56 against Greenville. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats attention to little things resulted in big things. Next for the Wildcats is Texas High in Texarkana on Friday.
Wildcats Soccer Team Dominates Action But Has to Settle for 0-0 Tie at The Prim Tuesday Night
Soccer can be a frustrating sport. Case in point was Tuesday (January 21) night’s Wildcats game against Pittsburg at Gerald Prim Stadium that ended in a 0-0 tie. Wildcats Coach Alexi Upton said the Wildcats dominated play and had 21 shots on goal while the Pirates managed only 2 chances. Coach Upton said the Pirates’ goalkeeper “stood on his head” making 16 saves. He said he couldn’t have asked for more from his team that created so many chances and shots. He said the Wildcats played well but could learn lessons from the game. The tie evened the Wildcats season record at 4-4-4. Coach Upton said the Wildcats would be facing three heavyweight teams before beginning district play at Greenville on February 11. Friday at home the Wildcats take on Mesquite Poteet, Coach Upton’s alma mater. The following Friday Lovejoy visits The Prim. The Leopards were preseason ranked #4 in the region. The Wildcats also will play at Nevada Community on February 7. Community was preseason ranked #5 in Class 4A in their region.
KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.
Lady Cats Soccer Team Has Second Straight Rout, This One at Pittsburg Tuesday Night
The Lady Cats Soccer Team had their second straight blowout Tuesday night (January 21) defeating Pittsburg on the road, 8-0. In their last game in a Terrell tournament last Friday, the Lady Cats defeated Seagoville, 17-0. Tuesday night the Lady Cats scored four goals in the first half and four more in the second half. Lady Cats Haley Robinson got a three goal hat trick. Rebekah Stanley added two goals. The Lady Cats also got one goal each from Ashley Noe, Janine Yamaguchi and Vanessa Lara. The Lady Cats got assists from Yamaguchi with two and one apiece from Katelyn Robinson, Stanley and Lisseth Carmona. Lady Cats Coach Javier Aguayo said the Lady Cats could have scored more. They also missed a penalty kick. He said the Lady Cats had fun. Coach Aguayo said he even played some JV players. He said Pittsburg used a packed tight defense and the Lady Cats had to reset the ball to create gaps. Coach Aguayo said he wanted his team to play like that every night. He said it’s all about playing smart. The Lady Cats improved their season record to 3-4-1. After taking Friday off, the Lady Cats will play at Pleasant Grove next Tuesday night.
KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.
Miller Grove Hornets and Lady Hornets Get Wins Over Fruitvale Tuesday
The Miller Grove Hornets and Lady Hornets both got wins over Fruitvale Tuesday (January 21). The Hornets won 65-18. Kobe Robertson led the Hornets with 16 points. Lexton Sly added 13 points. Matt Brignon had 11 points. Isaiah Billingsley scored 8 points. Riley Hasten got 7 points. Tanner Hensley had 6 points. Jacob George scored 4 points.
The Miller Grove Lady Hornets squeezed by Fruitvale, 42-39. The Lady Hornets trailed after the first quarter, 9-5, They rallied in the second quarter to lead at the half, 19-14. The Lady Hornets increased their lead to 35-26 after three quarters. Miller Grove was outscored in the fourth quarter 13-7 but hung on to win, 42-39. For the Lady Hornets, Harli Watson led the way with 17 points. Jorja Bessonett had 16 points. Lainy Burnett added 4 points. Summer Coker and Kaley Dorantes had 2 points each. Lauren Bullard scored 1 point. The Lady Hornets improved their district record to 5-2. Their season record is 9-16.
Saltillo Lady Lions Win District Battle for First Place at Home Tuesday Night
The #13 ranked Saltillo Lady Lions Basketball Team took sole possession of first place in district with a convincing 83-26 over Sulphur Bluff in Kerry Garmen Gym in Saltillo Tuesday night (January 21). The Lady Lions were strong from the start jumping out to a 28-7 first quarter lead. The Lady Lions increased their lead to 49-19 at the half. They led after three quarters 63-21. The Lady Lions outscored the Lady Bears 17-5 in the fourth quarter. For the Lady Lions, Chandler Bain led them with 16 points. Jocelyn Ochoa had 14 points. Anna Reeder scored 12 points. Brittney Peeples, Paisley Kastner and Maddy Smith had 8 points each. Allie Lane had 7 points. Makenna Gurley scored 4 points. Kristina Wade added 2 points. Lady Lions Coach Bill Giles said his team came out ready to play. He said 28 points in the first quarter is an awesome start. Coach Giles said throughout the game Saltillo played with intensity on defense and shared the ball offensively. The Lady Lions are 5-0 in district play and Sulphur Bluff is now 4-1. The Lady Lions season record is 22-7. The Lady Lions play next at Avery.
Investigation Of Possible Gravel Scam Results In Warrant Arrest
An investigation into a suspected gravel scam resulted in a 34-year-old Texarkana, Arkansas man being arrested shortly before noon Tuesday on FM 275 at County Road 1142 on a warrant.
Hopkins County Sheriff‘s deputies were dispatched Tuesday morning, Jan. 21, to more than one complaint of people contacting residents to whom they were trying to sell pavement or rocks, according to sheriff’s reports.
Officials contacted the individuals on FM 275 at County Road 1142 and asked for identification.
Prince Damon Long of Texarkana, Arkansas allegedly walked away while a deputy was collecting ID from other individuals. The man allegedly walked around the back of a building and jumped into the back of a dump truck. After the man was identified, a records check was conducted. Long was reported to be wanted in Arkansas for parole violation; he was jailed on the charge, Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputy Alvin Jordan alleged in arrest reports.
Long remained in Hopkins County jail Jan. 22 on the warrant, according to jail reports.
