Community Chest Holiday Hours and Services
We would like the community to know that the Hopkins County Food Bank will be closed the week of Christmas and the week of New Years for regularly scheduled hours. However, emergency food will be offered for existing clients only on the following days:
Week B Clients on 12-27-2019 from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Week A Clients on 12-31-2019 From 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
If you have any questions call: 903-885-3452
Press Release From the Texas Department of Transportation
Description: Texas Department of Transportation (R)
NEWS RELEASE
PARIS DISTRICT
Tim McAlavy
(903) 737-9213
[email protected]
DRUNK DRIVING CAUSES LIFETIME OF HEARTACHE FOR TEXAS FAMILY OVER THE HOLIDAYS
TxDOT’s ‘Plan While You Can’ campaign urges drivers to find a sober ride
Dec. 19, 2019
AUSTIN – When Rebecca Grimes sets the table during the holiday season, there’s always a missing piece. Nearly four decades ago in 1982, a drunk driver killed her brother, 18-year-old José “Hector” Martinez, in a head-on crash just before Thanksgiving. The holidays have never been the same since then.
“Even 30 years since Hector’s crash, we still feel that one empty chair at the table during the holidays,” Rebecca Grimes said. “Drunk drivers affect so many people beyond just those who are in the crash. They have a domino effect — crushing multiple families — and the impact lingers for years, decades beyond the crash.”
Grimes is sharing her story as part of TxDOT’s “Plan While You Can” campaign which urges drivers to make a plan for a sober ride this holiday season.
“Just don’t drink and drive, and don’t risk putting your family or someone else’s through heartache this holiday season,” Grimes said.
In 2018, there were 2,370 DUI-alcohol related crashes in Texas during the holiday season.* Those crashes killed 75 people and seriously injured another 199.
“The bad decision to drink and drive can turn the joy and revelry of the season into tragedy, causing unimaginable heartache for years to come,” TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said. “There’s no excuse: plan ahead and be responsible.”
The “Plan While You Can” campaign will tour the state featuring the “Plan to Win” virtual reality game. The game poses questions related to drinking and driving demonstrating the consequences of getting behind the wheel through an immersive experience.
Driving under the influence of alcohol not only risks death or serious injuries, but it can also be costly. Drivers can face up to $17,000 in fines and fees, jail time and loss of their driver’s license. Instead of getting behind the wheel, here are some alternative options:
Designating a sober driver or calling someone for a ride home
Calling a cab or ride-share service
Using mass transit
Spending the night
“Plan While You Can” is a key component of #EndTheStreakTX, a broader social media and word-of-mouth effort that encourages drivers to make safer choices while behind the wheel, like wearing a seat belt, driving the speed limit and never driving after drinking or doing drugs. Nov. 7, 2000 was the last deathless day on Texas roadways. #EndTheStreakTX asks all Texans to commit to driving safely to help end the streak of daily deaths on Texas roadways.
For media inquiries, contact TxDOT Media Relations at [email protected] or (512) 463-8700.
*Dec. 1, 2018 – Jan. 1, 2019. The information contained in this report represents reportable data collected from the Texas Peace Officer’s Crash Report (CR-3). This information was received and processed by the department as of Nov. 8, 2019.
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The Texas Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining 80,000 miles of road and for supporting aviation, maritime, rail and public transportation across the state.
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Saltillo Lady Lions Basketball Team Wins Last Game Before Christmas Break
The Saltillo Lady Lions picked up a non-district win against Wills Point, 52-30 at Saltillo Tuesday night (December 17). The Lady Lions got off to a good start and led after the first quarter, 19-7. Wills Point cut three points off of the lead in the second quarter but still trailed the Lady Lions, 25-16 at halftime. The Lady Lions outscored Wills Point 27-14 in the second half to take the 52-30 win. Anna Reeder led the Lady Lions in scoring with 18 points. Chandler Bain had 7 points. Jocelyn Ochoa, Brittney Peeples and Maddy Smith had 6 points apiece. Kristina Wade scored 5 points. Julianna Giles and Paisley Kastner had 2 points each. Lady Lions Coach Bill Giles said the Lady Lions played a good second half. He added they have had a good year so far going into the break. With district play coming up, Coach Giles said the Lady Lions have got to keep improving every day in practice. He said the girls have put time in on their own and it is continuing to show. With the win, the Lady Lions improve to 13-7 for the season. Saltillo is currently ranked #17 in Class A according to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Poll. The Lady Lions play next after Christmas at the Miller Grove Tournament December 27-28. On December 27, the Lady Lions play Como-Pickton at 9 a.m. and CHESS at 2:15 p.m.
Paul Pewitt Head Coach Triston Abron Gets Good Vibes From Hometown on Way to State Final Game
This is quite a week for Triston Abron, the former Wildcat football player, former Wildcat assistant coach and former Wildcat defensive coordinator now the Head Football Coach at Paul Pewitt. His Brahmas will play for the Class 3A, Division II State Championship Thursday at 7 p.m. against Gunter at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Both teams have 14-1 records. Wednesday on their way to Arlington, Coach Abron and his Brahmas stopped by the Sulphur Springs High School Multipurpose Building for a brief workout. They also visited the SSHS Cafeteria where they could not help but notice Paul Pewitt spirit signs in the cafeteria. Coach Abron was touched by the hometown support. He said Paul Pewitt is now his home but he added his “home” home will always be Sulphur Springs. As they left Sulphur Springs, the team was headed to Arlington. Coach Abron wanted his team to get used to the stadium so they took in the Refugio and Post Class 2A, Division I Championship Game Wednesday night. (Refugio won 28-7) Coach Abron doesn’t seem to mind that his team is considered the underdog in the championship game. He said the experts have been doubting his team all year long. Picked fourth in their district, the Brahmas ended up as co-district champs. Coach Abron indicated that each week in the playoffs, experts expected them to lose. He said the Brahmas want to make believers of everyone. One more big win should accomplish that.
Burt, Simmons Sentenced In District Court Dec. 18
Two men were taken into custody Wednesday, Dec. 18, after appearing before the district judge for sentencing hearings.
John Christopher Burt, 46, of Brashear was taken into custody at 5 p.m. Dec. 18, on a 2016 indecency with a child by sexual contact charge, according to arrest reports.
Burt, according to jail reports, Burt was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the indecency charge.
He was arrested July 5, 2018 on indictments alleging one count of continuous sexual abuse of a child, seven counts of aggravated sexual assault and three counts of indecency with a child by sexual contact, according to jail reports.
Burt’s arrest in 2018 followed a lengthy investigation by Texas Attorney General’s Office and sheriff’s deputies. The AG’s office was brought in based on the fact that it was the second an outcry of sexual abuse had been made from the same time; the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the previous case involving a different defendant and, thus, attorneys there recused themselves from the investigation, authorities told KSST in 2018.
He remained in the county jail until July 9, 2019; his bond was set at $100,000 on the continuous sexual abuse charge, $40,000 each on the aggravated sexual assault charges, $5,000 on two of the indecency charges and $10,000 on one indecency charge, according to jail reports.$20,000 on indecency charges.
Daryl Christopher Simmons, 57, of Sulphur Springs was taken into custody at 2:41 p.m. Dec. 18 at the courthouse. He was sentenced to 12 months in a state jail for possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, according to arrest and jail reports.
Simmons is alleged to have committed the offense on Oct. 30, 2018, and was released from jail Nov. 10 on $10,000 bond. He has an extensive criminal history which dates back to 1997 and includes alcohol, theft and misdemeanor traffic charges as well as state jail convictions for evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, theft and burglary of a building, according to jail reports.
Also taken into custody at the district courthouse Dec. 18 was Kimberley Beth Tucker, 48, of Carrollton for bond forfeiture on a possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, according to arrest reports.
Tucker was arrested on the controlled substance charge on Sept. 19, 2018 and remained in the county jail until her release on Oct. 22, 2018, according to jail reports. She was indicted in June 2019 on a possession of 1 gram or more but less than 4 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, according to court reports.
Jail staff took her into custody Thursday, Dec. 18, at Hopkins County District Courthouse for bond forfeiture on the charge; her new bond was set at $20,000 cash, according to jail and arrest reports.
Taken into custody at Plane State Jail, where she was serving a 6 month sentence, and transported to Hopkins County jail Dec. 18 on a bench warrant was Kristi Lynn Hooten, according to arrest reports.
Hooten, the local insurance agent accused of pocketing people’s premiums in 2017, was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison on the theft charge, ordered to pay fees to her victims and to pay a fee in a related law suit, according to the district attorney. However, Hooten will likely serve less than 6 months in prison.
“She was sentenced to 10 years in the penitentiary. However, the judge indicated that he would likely bring her back to Hopkins County before the expiration of 180 days in order to place her on probation. This is what is referred to as ‘shock’ probation,” 8th Judicial District Attorney Will Ramsay explained following Hooten’s sentencing and arrest June 26.
Hooten, according to the district court docket, is slated to appear in court at 9 a.m. Dec. 23 for a hearing to determine whether she will be released on “shock probation.”
Local Giving Has a Place in the Spirit of the Season
We hear it all the time, Hopkins County is a very generous and giving community! Well, Christmas time brings additional proof of that! The public is invited to these free holiday meals.
There is a free community lunch on Friday December 20, 2019 at Mitchell Chapel Church of God in Christ. According to Bishop Nelson Gatlin, the meal will be served at 11 am until all gone. It will consist of chicken and dressing, green beans, potato salad, dessert and drink. You can dine or take out but delivery is not available. Mitchell Chapel is located at 402 South JD Franklin Street, formerly South Jackson Street.
On Tuesday Christmas Eve, a free community lunch will be served starting at 11am at Evening Chapel CME at 199 Putman Street. The chicken and dressing meal is co-sponsored by Evening Chapel and New Beginnings Deliverance and Healing Ministry. Dine-in or take-out is offered to anyone who would like a meal. You can meet Pastor Gailyn McCurdy and Pastor Deborah Sharper.
On Christmas Morning, Wednesday December 25, a free community breakfast will be served at First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall from 8:30am until 11am. It is offered free to anyone in the community.
DeSoto Woman Allegedly Caught In Hopkins County With Marijuana, Ecstasy
An Interstate 30 traffic stop Wednesday morning resulted in a 39-year-old DeSoto woman’s arrested, after marijuana and Ecstasy were found in her vehicle, according to arrest reports.
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Aaron Hanna reported stopping a Nissan Rogue at 11:44 a.m. on Interstate 30 at mile post 131 for speeding.
During contact with the driver, Hanna alleged seeing a bag containing suspected marijuana in plain view in the cup holder. Hanna instructed the driver, identified in arrest reports as Monica Shaee Hamilton of DeSoto, to hand over the substance. She was asked to step out of the vehicle and was placed into custody for possession of marijuana, the trooper noted in arrest reports.
During a subsequent interview, Hamilton allegedly admitted to having half a pound of marijuana in the vehicle. A probable cause search of the vehicle, Hanna alleged in arrest reports, revealed a vacuum-sealed bag with 8.8 ounces of marijuana and as well as three baggies containing 26 aggregate grams of Ecstasy in a shopping bag on the rear seat.
Consequently, Hamilton was booked into the county jail on manufacture or delivery of 4 grams or more but less than 200 grams of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance and possession of 4 ounces or more but less than 5 pounds of marijuana. Hamilton remained in the county jail Thursday morning; her bond was set at $40,000 on the controlled substance charge and $5,000 on the marijuana charge, according to jail reports.
KSST's Good Morning Show Gets a Visit from Father Christmas!
A couple who re-located to Hopkins County from another state has found a niche in our community. Philip Gabbert and his wife Barbara have portrayed Father and Mother Christmas for at least a dozen years. It wasn’t long after getting settled in their new home near the Midway community that the Christmas season was upon them. So they donned their custom-made robes and began making appearances for the holiday season. One of the first was in November at the Christmas Market on Main Street where they posed with people and answered the children’s questions. And yes, he is a real Santa, but chooses to dress in the original costume of the European Father Christmas, or Saint Nicholas. According to Philip, “my appearance puts a new slant on how children perceive Santa Claus, and the grown-ups too, for that matter. Typical of the English personification of Christmas, Father Christmas exudes peace, joy and love in his manner and speech, without the hype about gift-giving and commercialism. Father Christmas is more of a saint-like character, and often associated with a wooded or rural setting. Children and adults alike are drawn and immediately warm up to us, because they sense we are real people bringing a message of love and good will. When pressed if I’m truly Santa Claus, I just say, “No, I’m his much older brother”. And instead of Santa’s traditional ‘Ho-Ho-Ho, Merry Christmas!’ Philip usually greets everyone with a heartfelt ‘Happy Christmas’, which he believes to be more in keeping with the cultural roots of Father Christmas.
The Gabberts began presenting their characters at The Heard Natural Science Museum during McKinney’s Holiday of Lights. The couple is in demand at Renaissance Festivals, with Philip dressed as a wizard and Barbara as a Rose Fairy or as Mother Nature. You may have seen them at the 2019 Renaissance Festival in Sulphur Springs, and back in the Spring, as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty during a local Memorial Day event. And Barbara being a seamstress, she custom-makes most of their costuming as a creative outlet. Father and Mother Christmas will make their final local appearance at the Free Community Breakfast in the First United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall on Christmas morning.
Gabbert also serves in dual roles as the Adjutant and Chaplain of VFW Post 8560 in Sulphur Springs. He is also an ordained Minister, and has constructed a small chapel on his property in southern Hopkins County so that couples can be married there. He also owns and operates a computer repair business. Philip quips that he started in the computer industry during high school a long time ago,”when Moby Dick was just a minnow!’
Admissions Up At CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs
CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital-Sulphur Springs has been “super busy” over the last 2 months, with a 28 percent increase in patient admissions during November alone. The emergency department experienced an almost 16 percent patient increase, CMFHSS Ministry President and Chief Executive officer Paul Harvey told Hopkins County Hospital District Board of Directors during their regular bimonthly meeting Tuesday night.
Thus far, the hospital has seen an increase, but has not experienced a significant spike in flu cases, despite reports of medical facilities around the region being hit pretty hard, particularly the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Central Texas and coming in from Oklahoma, according to Harvey. Those seen at the clinic and emergency department tend to be Type B flu, which a lot of the flu vaccines tend not to cover.
“We had one day there in November that we reached 75 patients in the hospital, and kept that pretty much for three or four days. We’ve had the second floor open for additional patient flow for almost 2 1/2 months now,” Harvey said.
The hospital staff tries to adjust scheduling so that the second floor isn’t open on weekends, if possible, due to difficulty fully staffing both. A plan is in place and can be activated if there is a “winter surge” in admissions, the hospital administrator explained.
The number of people visiting the hospital from outside the city and county has also increased.
“We are getting quite a bit from the Mount Vernon area. Sometimes, it doesn’t show up in a transport because they’re using our doctors, and may have a need for surgery and they’re coming in. We’re very pleased with what we’re continuing to see, especially from Franklin County,” Harvey said.
Patient quality experience scores also continue to increase positively for both the hospital and emergency room.
“I’m really pleased about how we’re heading in making sure our patients are safe and secure, and if you have to be in the hospital that we provide a good quality experience. I’m real proud about that,” Harvey said.
Hopkins County Health Care Foundation has had several activities that have been well attended and successful, including Trees of Life, which includes the tree in the hospital lobby donated by Wanda and Wayne Galyean. Designer Bag Bingo was also another big hit that will likely be held again in the future; aside from two tables, the Civic Center was filled with those attending.
Work continues on the mammography suite in an effort see it completed, hopefully, by February. A celebration date for the opening will be announced when a completion date and plans are more substantially complete.
Harvey reported two openings in the finance department at the hospital. The chief financial officer has accepted a job as an administrator at CHRISTUS Critical Access Hospital in Jacksonville and the director of finance, who has been with the district for 15 years, retired on Dec. 13.
Harvey credited the CNO and former CFO as being the team that “helped turn the hospital around to where we are.” He said both openings have been posted and that he’d keep the hospital apprised of any progress regarding that process as appropriate.
“I feel really good we have a couple of good internal candidates within the Mother Frances Health System that I think will express some interest in that,” Harvey
In the mean time, staff will be working on an organizational plan for the hospital moving forward. He said the hospital has “good practices in place both operational and financially.”
The regional CFO for the Mother Frances Health System is serving as the interim CFO. She is working with the remaining members of the team on some things from that perspective, Harvey reported.
Kerry Law offered “kudos” to Harvey and the Mother Frances staff for their recruitment of Dr. Blake Cross as the new clinic physician. He said he’s aware of multiple positive comments made about Dr. Cross, including how pleasant he is and what a good physician he is.
“I couldn’t have said it better myself. When a new provider comes in they take time to ramp up the number of patients they see, but he was well over his mark for the first three months by the middle of September, after 6 weeks. I think that’s a testament to him. I think he and his wife have really found a good niche in the community of who to connect and network with, be part of from a community standpoint. That’s what you want. You want to do it where they’ll grow and stay here and be part of what we’re trying to build. That will keep our hospital vibrant and healthcare services in the community vibrant in years to come in ensuring a primary care base,” Harvey said.
There are still two openings for family care physicians. Talks are ongoing with one good candidate who hopefully will find Sulphur Springs a good fit for practice.
When asked, Harvey said the new meal program in which Chick-Fil-A and Slaughterhouse barbecue provide lunches in the cafeteria for associates, families and patients, and nearby community members to purchase has been a huge success. Chick-Fil-A typically once a month provides about 100 sandwiches which are sold out within 30 minutes. Slaughterhouse also usually sells out in 30-45 minutes.
