PJC Welding Class From the Sulphur Springs Campus
CUTTING METAL
Under the supervision of PJC-Sulphur Springs Welding Instructor John Plemons, left, structural welding student Colten Nolan practices cutting metal during his summer II class at the campus. This and other workforce education courses are offered at the PJC-Sulphur Springs campus.
Winnsboro Man Arrested On Felony Hopkins County Theft Warrant
A 22-year-old Winnsboro man was jailed Thursday night on a Hopkins County warrant for theft of aluminum, bronze, copper or brass material.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s staff reportedly contacted Winnsboro police to seek assistance in serving a felony warrant in that city. WPD official notified HCSO that Calum L. Foldenauer had been located and was in custody on the Hopkins County charge, the deputy noted in arrest reports.
Deputy Lance Burdick traveled to Country Boys store at FM 3019, where he met a WPD officer and took custody of Foldenauer just after 10 p.m. Thursday. Burdick transported the Winnsboro man to Hopkins County jail, where he was booked on the theft charge, according to arrest reports.
Foldenauer remained in Hopkins County jail Friday morning, Aug. 9. Bond was set at $5,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
Truck Driver Hits Car Within View Of DPS On I-30, Stopped 4 Miles Down Road
A Houston truck driver was reportedly stopped for hitting a Nissan Altima near a trooper on Interstate 30, then not stopping to check on the driver and share insurance information. A trooper arrested the 44-year-old man 4 miles west of the crash site according to arrest reports.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper alleged the 44-year-old Houston man changed lanes on Interstate 30 west when unsafe, striking the front right side of the Altima with the left rear of the semi-trailer he was hauling.
The Nissan stopped beside the trooper’s parked patrol car at mile marker 130 and spoke with the trooper about the crash. The truck tractor and semi-trailer allegedly stopped at the FM 69 exit. The trooper reported seeing the driver walk around it, return to the truck and drive back onto Interstate 30 east. The trooper, in reports, stated he followed the truck until he could get the driver to stop at mile marker 134.
The driver was arrested for failured to stop and render aide or give information at a crash resulting in damage to an attended vehicle, according to arrest reports.
The truck driver remained in the county jail Friday morning, Aug. 9. Bond on the misdemeanor charge was set at $1,000, according to jail reports.
Summer’s Not Over at Cooper Lake State Park!
Steve Killian, Cooper Lake Park Complex Manager loves it when visitors to the parks say “We didn’t know you offered all this!” There are actually two separate parks which welcome visitors, the South Sulphur Unit in Hopkins County and the Doctor’s Creek Unit in Delta County. Both offer RV and tent camping, screened shelters and lakeside cabins. You can rent a pavilion for a group event. There’s also hiking, kayaking, fishing, swimming, boating and more. Just ahead this Fall, a Music Festival is planned at the Doctor’s Creek Unit featuring The Birthright Blues Project and several other bands. Find out more by visiting Texas Parks and Wildlife website and Facebook pages for both the Cooper Lake sites.
Killian is always planning interesting programs for visitors.Coming soon are “Sunset Hike”, “Night Hike” and “Bats: the Most Misunderstood Mammal”. During a KSST Good Morning Show interview, he explained that even though bats may seem scary and creepy, they serve a very beneficial purpose. Bats are known as a “keystone species” because their removal would cause havoc in the environment. 70% of all bat species are insectivores and many are common to our area. For example, the common Big Brown Bat can devour between 2,000 and 6,000 insects per night, providing valuable control of mosquitoes as well as pests that affect our nation’s food crops. The work that bats do also makes them pollinators. The other 30% of bats in the world are fruit eaters, with none of these found in the United States. And of the three species of bats in the world which drink blood, none are found in the United States. Killian suggests that putting up bat houses on your property can increase their efficiency upon the insect population where you live. And about rabies, he mentioned that although rabies is often mentioned in connection with bats, but over the past 50 years, less than 50 cases of bat-borne rabies has been confirmed. Killian did stress that bats will rarely be seen during the daytime, and almost never on the ground. If you encounter a bat on the ground, do not touch it! Likely the grounded bat is not healthy, and their teeth are very sharp!! Killian will return to the KSST studio on Friday September 6,2019 at 8:15 am with more interesting information about the outdoors. Be listening!
There’s room to roam at Cooper Lake State Park, as there is at the 94 other State Parks around the state. Doctors Creek (on the north side of the lake) and South Sulphur (on the south side) offer tons of amenities. You can fish, picnic, swim, boat, water-ski, hike, bike, bird watch, study nature, stargaze, ride horses, geocache and camp. Call for information at 903-945-5256 or 903-395-3100.
Car Allegedly Involved In Rockwall Pursuit Found At Sulphur Springs Truck Stop
A vehicle reportedly involved in a pursuit that started in Rockwall, TX was located by Sulphur Springs police at 7 Star Truck Stop late Thursday night. Authorities had already called off the pursuit when the vehicle was located. The blue Kia Forte was impounded and at least two people were arrested on one misdemeanor charge each, according to arrest reports.
Sulphur Springs police responded to a complaint of suspected intoxicated people at the West Shannon Road truck stop at 10:48 p.m. Their car matched the description of the wanted vehicle. There were at least two women traveling together with the vehicle.
One officer contacted a 40-year-old woman, identified as the driver of the car. She was alleged to be unstable on her feet, displayed heavy eyes and slurred speech. However, the officer reported smelling no alcohol as she spoke. She did display all six clues of intoxication on horizontal gaze nystagmus tests, leading the officer to believe she was under the influence of narcotics and, thus, represented a danger to herself and others, the officer alleged in arrest reports.
The second patrol officer contacted a female passenger in the car. He claimed in arrest reports that he noticed a red plastic bag that contained a crystal-like residue between her door and the seat she was sitting in. Thus, a probable cause search was conducted. The officer alleged a glass pipe of the kind commonly used to smoke crack cocaine and another red plastic bag with a brown residue were found. The passenger, a 36-year-old Dallas woman, was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.
The driver allegedly admitted to using heroine earlier in the day, one officer alleged in arrest reports. Police alleged the 40-year-old’s physical state continued to deteriorate while he was in contact with her, so EMS was called to evaluate her. She was administered Narcan, a medication that can help reverse an opioid overdose, and was transported to the local emergency room due to her level of narcotics intoxication, according to arrest reports.
Once released from the hospital, the 40-year-old was transferred to jail, where she was booked for public intoxication.
The car, which was reportedly blocking the fuel pumps, was impounded.
Both remained in the county jail Friday morning, according to jail reports.
Tax Free Weekend Begins Friday, August 9th
During this annual sales tax holiday, you can buy most clothing, footwear, school supplies and backpacks (sold for less than $100) tax free from a Texas store or from an online or catalog seller doing business in Texas. In most cases, you do not need to give the seller an exemption certificate to buy qualifying items tax free.
This year’s sales tax holiday begins Friday, Aug. 9, and goes through midnight Sunday, Aug. 11.
The sales tax exemption applies only to qualifying items you buy during the sales tax holiday. Items you buy before or after the sales tax holiday do not qualify for exemption, and there is no tax refund available.
Qualifying Items
City Applying for $700,000 Grant For Sidewalks on Bell, Texas Streets
Sidewalk grant application
Street work was a hot topic at the August City Council meeting and a sidewalk grant was also discussed.
City Finance Director Lesa Smith asked the council to approve a resolution which would allow city officials to submit an application applying for to Texas Department of Transportation for a Safe Routes to Schools-Infrastructure Grant which would fund 100 percent of the cost of sidewalks for Texas and Bell streets, to provide safe paths for kids to walk to and from Sulphur Springs Elementary School.
The sidewalk would span from Industrial Drive to Jarbo Street on Texas Street, and from Texas to Bell Street, making it safer for school children walking to and from school.
The city has already received letters of intent from the property owners from whom easements would be needed in order to construct the project.
The resolution was required, and the application is due next week. If approved, the $700,000 project would be contracted out, according to Smith.
The city council gave unanimous approval for city officials to move forward with the grant application.
Street Improvement Projects
City Manager Marc Maxwell told the council that 20 streets have been designated for paving improvement in 2020, using the $5 street maintenance fee. The lists has been compiled over quite a period of time using input from various city departments, including engineering, public works, utility and water support.
Those projects will be put out for bids, and performed over the course of a a few months, typically during the warmer months of the year. Depending on the weather and availability of contractors, what could mean doing half in one month and half in another month or over more than one month.
Maxwell also noted that contrary to complaints some have voiced, many streets outside of downtown have been the focus for street repairs in the last 11 years, since the downtown revitalization project began.
He also displayed on a screen a map with streets that had received improvements highlighted in yellow. He said those would soon be added to the city’s website so that anyone who wants can click and see the past and planned street improvements.
Currently, street improvements continues on Connally Street. The city’s Capital Construction Division is constructing the Connally/League Street intersection at one end of the street and the drainage system at the other end of the street. The plan is to get League at Connally open before school starts on Aug. 20 to better accommodate the heavy vehicle and bus traffic.
While crews work on Connally Street, the Sunset Street project is on hold.
The street running alongside Pacific Park where the drainage issue was addressed will remain closed until Friday, to allow time for the concrete to set and cure properly.
Citizens Comments
Woodside Lane resident Jay Julian during the public comments portion of the meeting thanked Maxwell for the graph, showing that the city has indeed many more streets have been repairs aside from the ones that are or lead to downtown.
A Texas A&M University-Commerce student during the citizens comments portion of the meeting noted potholes on Davis Street over the last year have worsened, causing problems for vehicles of residents and other motorists who travel along the street.
John Lambert asked, after seeing the map of street maintenance repairs made since 2008, when the rate of repair or replacement of the streets was equal to or greater than the rate of deterioration.
A representative from Hopkins-Rains Retired School Personnel personally handed all of the council members an invitation to attend their 50th anniversary at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10. She said 741 people in Hopkins County receive monthly checks from the Teachers Retirement System, for a total of about $16.5 million brought into Hopkins County in 2018, The even will be at The Venue, 219 Main Street. The council members who grew up in Hopkins County were each encouraged to recognize a retired school personnel who made a difference in their lives. Others at the meeting were also invited ot greet and say hi, greet and recognize teachers.
Wildcats Team Tennis Splits Two Matches Thursday
Wildcats Team Tennis won one and lost one Thursday on the road.
In the afternoon at John Tyler, despite having to forfeit a point because of an injured player, the Wildcats defeated the Lions, 11-8. It was the Wildcats first win of the season. Earlier the Wildcats lost to a good Whitehouse team, 14-5. It was during this match Wildcats senior Brandon Dittrich injured a knee.
Wildcats winners included #1 boys singles player Jonah Kirkpatrick, #2 boys singles player Aaron Lucas, #1 girls singles player Jeauxleigh Cantu, #2 girls singles player Paige Miesse and the mixed doubles team of Kirkpatrick and Cantu.
The Wildcats are now 1-4 for the season against good competition. The Wildcats will play Hallsville and Spring Hill next Tuesday on the road.
