Wildcat Band Begins Contest Season Saturday
Wildcat Band Director Spencer Emmert calls this month Bandtober. During this month, the band will perform at four Friday night football games and then head to contests. Their first contest takes place Saturday (October 5) at Mesquite Memorial Stadium, also the site for this year’s Area contest. Emmert says the Wildcats will take the field at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He says the band has worked all this school year for these next four weeks. Saturday’s contest is a one performance one with no finals. Emmert says band members are working on their stamina so they can perform their 7 ½ minute show, which he describes as action packed, challenging, intense and demanding. Those who have seen the show at halftime may notice some change in the future. Props for the show, about Columbus’ discovery of the New World, will be redone to look more like the inside of a sailing ship. Emmert encourages followers of the band to come to the band’s contests. He says the band loves to perform before the fans. The unusual aspect of a contest is the eerie quiet that takes place during a band’s performance. Quite different from the raucous atmosphere at a football stadium. The Wildcats will have their UIL Contest on October 15 in Mount Pleasant. With high scores, the Wildcat Band can qualify for Area competition, back at Mesquite Memorial. State bids will be on the line there.
Central Baptist Event – “Love The Red Sunday”
Central Baptist Church, at 840 Connally Street in Sulphur Springs, is excited to host “Love The Red Sunday” THIS Sunday, October 6th! All local Hopkins County and city firefighters, and emergency medical personnel are invited to a special service in their honor at 10:30am, followed by lunch afterward. Don Mingo will be our guest speaker. We hope you will join us!
Update: Diesel Spill In Miller Grove Reportedly Larger Than Originally Estimated
Some Aquatic Animals Found Dead, Officials Report
State authorities reported Friday afternoon more diesel was spilled in the Miller Grove area near Turkey Creek Thursday evening than originally estimated, and some aquatic life has been affected.
Friday morning, the 6-inch pipeline rupture was estimated to have pumped about 8,000 barrels of petroleum into Turkey Creek Thursday. However, shortly after 1 p.m. Friday, the State of Texas State Operations Center said an update showed a new estimate of 10,000 to 15,000 barrels of product to have been released during the incident.
“Some dead aquatic animals have been discovered and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is expected to conduct a site visit today,” according to the SOC report update.
Hopkins County Fire Department was first dispatched around 6:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, to the area of County Road 1130 in Miller Grove. After two months of maintenance, a six inch rupture in a pipeline reportedly occurred after diesel was pushed through the pipeline. The pipeline burst, causing the diesel to run into the nearby waterway. The pipeline was shut down and mitigation was started to contain the diesel. The creek bed was dry and contained before getting into any other water way, according to a press release composed by local emergency management officials and disseminated through Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office.
The State of Texas State Operations Center was notified of the initial report of a petroleum pipeline incident. Initially, 8,000 barrels of petroleum were estimated to have been released into Turkey Creek before the leak could be stopped; however, that estimate had been increased Friday afternoon to 10,000-15,000 barrels.
A remediation company was contracted to place a boom to prevent the spill from traveling downstream. Local community volunteers under the direction of the Hopkins County Office of Emergency Management built a temporary earthen barrier in the event the boom is insufficient.
Cleanup of approximately 1.25 miles of Turkey Creek was still underway Friday along with active air monitoring. Terrain, vegetation and darkness have impacted the speed of remediation operations.
“They are doing everything they can to get it cleaned up as fast as they can, but they’re going to be out there a while working,” Hopkins County Fire Chief Andy Endsley said late Friday morning.
The Office of Emergency Management, officials reported, will remain on scene until all the product has been moved and the cleanup of the area is completed.
Responding agencies Thursday evening and overnight included Hopkins County Precinct 1, Hopkins County Fire Department, Hopkins County OEM, Environmental Protection Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Division of Emergency Management, county officials reported Friday morning.
Friday afternoon, the state update noted Franklin County was providing a Mobile Command Trailer to the scene. The owner/operator had reached out to their cell phone provider and requested a cell on wheels and The Texas Division of Emergency Management was coordinating through the Texas Department of Public Safety to expedite the request. Additional responding agencies include the Franklin County Office of Emergency Management, according to the update.
Cumby Police: Humble Man Arrested For Possessing Methamphetamine
Cumby Police Sgt. Ray Embro arrested 36-year-old Michael Lee Harper of Humble at 1:19 a.m. Friday after finding suspected methamphetamine in the car he was driving.
Embro reportedly contacted Harper after noticing he failed to signal when turning the Crown Victoria he was driving into Valero gas station. When asked for a driver’s license, Harper reportedly handed Embro an ID card and claimed he’d pulled into the gas station parking lot to check out his vehicle. Harper allegedly told the officer he’d just hit a cow down the road, but had not stopped to report it. The passenger’s side mirror was noted to be damaged, Embro alleged in arrest reports.
He had the man step out of the car to talk to him. Embro said he was suspicious of the man’s travel plans and story he gave. When asked if he had anything illegal in the car, he denied having anything illegal but did admit to being on parole, Embro alleged in arrest reports.
After obtaining permission, Embro reportedly searched the car, finding in the middle of the front seat a black sock containing a white crystal-like residue the officer believed to be methamphetamine and a plastic tube with a bag with a “large amount” of suspected meth, arrest reports alleged.
Harper was taken into custody for possession of 4 grams or more but less than 200 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance and was issued a written warning and two citations; the car was impounded Embro alleged in reports.
Harper remained in the county jail late Friday morning, Oct. 4. Bond on the controlled substance charge was set at $25,000, according to jail reports.
SSISD Receives 2 Acceptable Bids For Fore Street House Constructed By CTE Students
The 1,550 square foot farm-style house constructed on Fore Street by Sulphur Springs High School students should have a new owner soon.
Sulphur Springs Independent School District Board of Trustees on Monday accepted the two bids, in rank order, submitted for the house, according to Sulphur Springs Independent School District Assistant Superintendent Josh Williams.
SSHS career and technology students worked on the house, with help from trade professionals when required, over the course of two years. The house has two bedrooms, plus a bonus room with sliding barn doors that could be used as an office or third bedroom. It also has two bathrooms, open concept kitchen, granite counter tops and stainless-steel appliances, a separate laundry room and easy-care wood-look vinyl plank and tile floors throughout. The structure too includes a wraparound porch and a detached single car garage.
Because of education rules regarding school, the property had to be sold not through the normal channels such as a realtor but through a sealed bid process.
Sulphur Springs Independent School District administrators put the home up for bid over the summer. However, at the close of the bidding period in August, no bids had been received, Williams reported at the Aug. 12 school board meeting.
After consideration, Sulphur Springs Independent School District again sought bids for the home last month, this time lowering the minimum bid price set from $154,900 to $134,900.
When the sealed bids were opened at the close of bidding Friday, Sept. 27, at 3 p.m., two acceptable bids were received, both above the minimum bid price, Williams reported.
Both bids were from private individuals. The top bid was for $142,500, and the second was for $137,259. Both were accepted, with the home going to the top bidder. The second bid was approved as a back up in case something does not go through in the process. Then, the home would go to the person bidding $137,259, without having to hold another school board meeting regrading the matter, according to Williams.
The assistant superintendent said the district is thrilled with this, especially the experience it’s provided the students who worked on the Fore Street home. It’ll be something in 30 years they can point to and their kids or grandchildren they helped build.
The bidders were contacted Tuesday. Officials are in the process of executing the sale agreement, which is expected to be presented at the end of the week to the title company, according to Williams.
The sale will allow SSISD to recover the amount the school district put into the home and put money back into the career and technology education program.
Students currently enrolled in construction trades-related CTE classes are currently working on a few projects identified around the district. Once those are tidied up, the students will begin work on their next big project: a tiny house. With the hiring of teachers with trade credentials, the students will be able to learn the entire process of constructing a house. The tiny house then can be sold through regular means, according to Williams.
Family/living area 
Detached garage 
Kitchen includes stainless steel appliances
Gilmer Street Closed Friday From Linda Drive To Spence Street For Water Line Repair
Motorists traveling in “midtown” along Gilmer Street toward or from downtown should make note of a road detour while a water line is being repaired.
“While RK Hall Construction was repaving Gilmer Street one of our water lines which crosses Gilmer near Schlotzsky’s ruptured. Rather than just repair the broken pipe, we decided to replace it all the way across Gilmer. We have had to break up the concrete on 3 feet of Bill Bradford Road to replace it,” said Sulphur Springs City Manager Mark Maxwell.
Work is expected to continue on the water line repair into Friday evening.
“Be aware, multiple lanes of the road are shut down while this is going on. People driving in the area should plan accordingly,” said Sulphur Springs Police Chief Jason Ricketson.
Those who can are encouraged to seek alternate routes of travel other than Gilmer Street, between Linda Drive/Bill Bradford Road and Spence Street, which is currently closed to traffic, to help reduce traffic congestion.
All traffic traveling south on Gilmer is being directed off Gilmer onto Spence Street, left onto Fisher Street (watch for the dip at the intersection), then onto Lee Street and South Broadway Street.
Northbound traffic is diverted off Gilmer Street at Tennessee Street, around the impacted area of Bill Bradford Road, onto side streets.
While Gilmer is expected to reopen late Friday evening, a section of road near the impacted area is expected to be closed again next week for road work.
“RK Hall should return on Tuesday to repave that section of Gilmer, and we will repave the 3 feet of Bill Bradford soon,” Maxwell said.
Hopkins-Rains Retired School Personnel Meeting
Hopkins-Rains Retired School Personnel have announced their next meeting and program.
Tuesday, October 8 at 10:00 am
Location: The Oaks B&B, 516 Oak Ave, Sulphur Springs
Program: Blake Cooper, Director of Friends of Texas Public Schools, will share information regarding this advocacy group that supports public schools and those who teach and work in them.
Friends of Texas Public Schools also supports the needs of retired school personnel. Mr. Cooper will provide details regarding the ongoing work of this valuable organization.
Hopkins County Court-at-Law Judge Appointed to Mental Health Task Force
Clay Harrison, who took office on January 1, 2019, as the Hopkins County Court-at-Law Judge, was recently appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas to serve on a task force created by Senate Bill 362 to address emergency mental health issues across the state. The order appointing Judge Harrison
was signed on October 1, 2019, by the nine justices of the state’s highest court.
“Our county works hard in these tough cases. District Judge Eddie Northcutt has an extensive background in the field of mental health and County Judge Robert Newsom currently serves on the state’s Judicial Commission on Mental Health. Sheriff Lewis Tatum and Lt. Tanner Crump, our County Attorney Dusty Rabe, and our Justices of the Peace Brad Cummings and B.J. Teer have reinvented the way we do emergency mental health detentions,” Harrison continued.
Emergency mental health issues have recently taken center-stage in the national debate on mental illness. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year and one in twenty five experience serious mental illness. Last year, 19.1% of
U.S. adults, or 47.6 million people, experienced mental illness.
The Judicial Commission on Mental Health was created by a joint order of the Supreme Court of Texas and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The mission of the Judicial Commission on Mental Health is to engage and empower court systems through collaboration, education, and leadership,
thereby improving the lives of individuals with mental health needs and persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“These issues are complex and we all have a lot to learn,” Harrison said, “but I’m confident we’re going to keep making it better as we go.”
- Links/Sources:
- https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/07/trump-considers-red-flag-laws-texas-lawmakers-have- blocked/
- https://www.nami.org/learn-more/mental-health-by-the-numbers
- http://texasjcmh.gov/
