City Council Calls For Special Election To Help Fund Pacific Park Improvements, New Senior Citizens Center
Sulphur Springs voters will be asked Nov. 5 to go to the poles to determine whether or not to allow economic development funds to be used to help fund improvement at Pacific Park and to build a new center for senior citizens.
The city council was asked to approve a resolution for the special election to allow the EDC sales and use tax funding to be used by the city’s parks department for qualified 4B projects, including construction and maintenance of Pacific Park and Senior Citizens Center facilities.
“So at the last meeting, I put the idea out there; let’s do it again, do what we did with Coleman Park — using EDC money for a 4B purpose, this time for Pacific Park and a Senor Center. Lets authorize $200,000 a year for 20 years. That will fund $3 million worth of bonds: $1 1/2 million to go to Pacific Park and $1 1/2 million for a senior center. We will also add to that another half-million dollars in grant funding from Texas Department of Parks and Recreation to go with the Pacific Park money. So that’d be a total of $2 million to go towards Pacific Park,” Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell told the council when presenting the election proposal Tuesday night.
Maxwell said the resolution stipulates that the city would be limited to $200,000 in EDC funding per year for 20 years.
“This is how we did Coleman Park, this is how we paid for it?” Sulphur Springs Mayor Norman Sanders asked.
Maxwell affirmed “this is exactly” how Coleman Park construction was funded 20 years ago.
The City Council gave unanimous approval to Resolution 1171 calling for the special Nov. 5 election.
“I really think that changing this and using that money from EDC that we usually use for bringing businesses in, I believe that its important to go that route because sometimes those amenities for our cities are also attractive for businesses coming into the city that may have people retiring or they may have living in those neighborhoods that would utilize those facilities. I think that’s an important way to look at it because, although we are not using that to recruit that is a recruiting tool. I think that’s a way to look at it that people need to be aware of as they consider their vote,” Sulphur Springs City Councilwoman Erica Armstrong said following the vote on the matter.
Local Officers Make 6 Unrelated Warrant Arrests July 2
At least six people were arrested and jailed in Hopkins County Tuesday on outstanding warrants, including one person wanted by the US Marshals Service. One was found at a local motel, one at the Walmart in Commerce and one taken into custody at the courthouse. Overall, five were taken into custody by sheriff’s officers and one by city police.
Sulphur Springs Police Officer Sean Hoffman was contacted and asked by a U.S. Marshals Service officer around 5:25 p.m. Tuesday to transport 37-year-old Victor Von Herrmann of Sulphur Springs to the county jail. The man had reportedly been located at his Lee Street residence. After the Sacramento warrant for Herrmann’s arrest for lewd or lascivious act with a child under age 14 was confirmed, he was taken into custody on the charge, Hoffman alleged in arrest reports. Bond was set at $600,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Baumann arrested Keyra Leanne Dunham, 28, of Amarillo at 4:08 p.m. at the Walmart in Commerce on a Hopkins County warrant. The deputy reported receiving information the wanted woman was inside the store and contacted police, who detained her for Baumann, until he could arrive at the Commerce store and taken her into custody to jail for violation of probation, which she was on for possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance, according to arrest reports. Bond was set at $50,000 on the charge, according to arrest reports.
Carlton Douglas Fite, 42, of Yantis was arrested at 10:32 p.m. Tuesday, July 2, at his State Highway 154 south residence by Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputies Zack Horne and Aaron Chaney, and Sgt. Scott Davis for surety off bond on a theft of property valued at less than $2,500 but with two or more previous convictions, which enhanced the charges to a felony offense. The deputies went to Fite’s residence to try to serve the warrant. They attempted to contact the man, but had no success. As they were leaving, Fite attempted to pull into the driveway. He was detained and taken into custody on the charge, according to arrest reports. Bond was set at $10,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
Tacka Dashell Gotcher, 32, of Sulphur Springs was taken into custody at 3 p.m. July 2 by a corrections officer at Hopkins County Courthouse on an order revoking bond on a possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance,
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputy Lance Burdick and Investigator Wade Sheets took Craig Tatom Nichols, 53, of Celeste into custody at 10:16 a.m. Tuesday at Ferrari Inn on a Hunt County theft of property valued at $30,000 or more but less than $150,000 charge. Sheets advised the deputies about the wanted man. The officers went to the motel, located the man who’d allegedly booked the room under a female’s name, and took him into custody on the Hunt County charge, according to arrest reports. Bond was set at $50,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
HCSO Deputy Steve Shing traveled to Plain State Jail in Dayton, Texas, where he took 37-year-old Toni Marie Sherrin of Gun Barrel City into custody at 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, July 2. Shing transported Sherrin, who was noted in jail reports to also be known as Toni Smith, to Hopkins County jail, where she was held on warrants for unauthorized use of a vehicle and for bail jumping and failure to appear. Bond was set at $20,000 on the vehicle charge and $25,000 and on the other, according to jail reports.
Honor Flight DFW: A Once in A Lifetime Trip for Two Hopkins County Veterans
Brothers-in-law and lifelong friends Ronnie Whitlock and Keith Klein described their recent whirlwind round trip journey to the nation’s capitol in a span of just three days and two nights. They returned with a cargo of priceless, positive memories; their own and those of their travel comrades. Here is a little of what they shared with KSST, but first let’s find out how the amazing trip was made possible.
What is Honor Flight DFW? an all-volunteer not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose sole purpose is to honor veterans who have given so much and ask for so little in return. Honor Flight DFW (HFDFW) was established in September 2008 to bring this effort to the Dallas/Ft Worth/North Texas area. The first flight departed DFW in 2009 and, to date, Honor Flight DFW has flown over 1,100 WWII veterans to Washington, DC. plus veterans of other wars. The all expense paid, three-day trip to Washington, DC includes visits to: WWII, Korean, Vietnam, Marine (Iwo Jima), Navy and Air Force Memorials and Arlington Cemetery, those memorials which symbolize the spirit, sacrifice and commitment of these American heroes. Each flight of veterans is also honored with a banquet where they are recognized during a stirring program. In 2017, the average age of Honor Flight veterans was 93 years old. Because the health concerns of most may prevent them from traveling on their own, each veteran is assigned a Guardian to ensure his/her safety. Additionally, a team of volunteer medical professionals travels with each flight on a tour which truly becomes “the trip of a lifetime”. Hopkins County native Judy Rawson Heaps is HFDFW Secretary.
Ronnie’s Story: I Joined the Navy “I wasn’t drafted in 1963, I enlisted! It was during my Senior year at Cooper High School, and a buddy and I were in Paris, Texas that day. We passed the recruiters office and I said, “Hey, let’s go sign up!” and we did. I came home and told my dad, and he said, ‘you’re going to graduate first!’. It was mid-term of my Senior year, and so they let me graduate before I took my ‘senior trip’ to basic training in June. My dad had served in the Navy and I wanted to go, too. I had no idea how that off the cuff decision was going to send me to Japan and to a life-changing experience aboard the USS Oriskany.
Keith’s Story: I was Drafted “I went into the Army in 1964 from college, and had never even heard the word Vietnam til I got to boot camp! I was sent to aircraft school, and after we had finished with our training, next day we lined up with our duffel bags and the first 26 men in line ahead of me were put on a plane for Saigon. Me and another guy were sent to New Jersey. After sometime there, I spent most of my three years of service on the continent of Africa working as an aircraft mechanic”.
Ronnie’s Service Aboard USS Oriskany “Right after boot camp, I was sent to Aviation School in Memphis but was reassigned to sea duty and spent a couple of years at Kisarazu, Japan, site of a large US Naval Base. The guys of the ‘214’ were there with us for awhile, about 60 Americans in the elite all-weather attack squadron, and on shore duty we played baseball and had cookouts to pass some time. We were near Tokyo and Mount Fuji was often visible above the morning mist. I was assigned to the USS Oriskany, which was headed for support operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of northern Viet Nam and southern China. There were more people on this carrier than in all of Delta County, about 6600! I worked in Recovery, under the flight deck. In October 1966, on our second day out of Midway, a fire broke out aboard which we all fought. It burned helicopters and aircraft, injured over 150 personnel and killed 44 over three hours time. I will never forget that line of caskets on deck or the burial at sea we witnessed in parade formation. News reporting of the incident was grave, and my parents thought for sure that I had been killed. And boy, were they surprised when I showed up at home! The ‘mighty O-boat’ is referred to in the movie ‘Top Gun’ and in 2006, she was sunk off the coast of Florida to form a recreational reef for divers. I spent my last months at Hunters Point Shipyard out of San Francisco, and then I went home to Cooper, Texas”.
. Keith’s Service in US Army “During my tour of duty in the Vietnam War, I was assigned to various places in Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Liberia as an aircraft mechanic. But at first, I worked for a few months on the small LOH (light observation helicopter) the Army had, these were small and fast jet-powered multi-purpose helicopters. I assisted with the radios, inspections and maintenance of these. In Ethiopia, I really saw the backside of the country and how the common people lived. I was glad to have a home in America to go back to. Sometimes I was part of a truck transport mission where we carried items needed for helicopter repair. We were always armed on the ground. Later in Sudan, I flew out in a helicopter each day for about a year in support of a team making detailed topographical maps. I can’t help but feel that the work we did there was largely in preparation for the next war. I served from 1964-1967, but never set foot in Vietnam”.
Their Impressions of the Honor Flight Trip Arriving about mid-day on Friday June 14 at Reagan International Airport, the 46 veterans and their guardians began their tour of the national landmarks. First stop was the US Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue, a huge museum built in 1987 to honor those who have served or are currently serving in the Navy, Coast Guard and the Merchant Marine. The group took some time for fellowship and much needed rest at their hotel in Arlington, Virginia. Next morning, Saturday June 15, the group arrived at the National Mall, visiting the US Air Force Memorial which opened in 2006, the Korean War Veterans Memorial dedicated in 1995 and the National World War Two Memorial which opened in 2004. They visited the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) which opened in 1954, also spent somber time viewing the 500-foot long Vietnam War Memorial Wall as well as the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. They witnessed the amazing Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The busy day wrapped up with a stop at the Martin Luther King Memorial and the Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. That night, the group was treated to a banquet, a special message from news legend Ted Koppel who was guest speaker and a concert by the fabulous US Air Force Band ‘Max Impact’. After a short night of rest, the group toured Arlington Memorial Cemetery as a final goodbye to their comrades in arms, then boarded a plane for DFW. Though they arrived late at night, an organized welcoming party was there to welcome them home on Sunday June 16, 2019.
Guardian Tim Dant Tells His Story “I am not a military veteran, but last year, I got involved in Honor Flight DFW and this was my fourth trip. They say I’ve got ‘honor flight-itis’! Most of the guardians wear their Honor Flight DFW caps but this time, I wore my dad’s cover in honor of him, he was a Marine. He nor my father in law got to go on a flight, so I go for them and it’s a privilege! I personally felt it was my privilege to accompany these two brothers-in-law and experience their once in a life time trip through their eyes. It was a grand experience”.
Organizer Judy Rawson Heaps Tells Her Story “Since 2006, DFW Airport has been the site of dozens of these flights, and I go on every one of them that I can. The thrill of knowing these men and women are able to realize how proud and appreciative we are for their service is the main reason I go. Also to make sure that their journey is worry-free and as full of memorable moments as we can possibly make it. Although veterans of all wars are welcome, we place WWII Veterans at the top of the list whenever we are put in contact with them or their family, because there isn’t much time left for these heroes. The WWII Memorial was among the last ones to be completed, and so we are concentrating on the remnant of ‘the greatest generation’ to be able to see it through Honor Flight DFW. It’s how I feel I get to serve them. My dad got to go on Honor Flight and I know how much it meant to him. Truly, it’s heartwarming and gratifying just to be a part of this marvelous activity. And not only is it the veterans as they proudly march onto the plane as they depart, but the scores of greeters and well wishers who line up to wave and express their support and pride as they board and as they return. This is pride in America, and I’m happy to say it’s still very much alive and well!”
City To Use $10,000 Bruner Silver Award Funding To Provide WiFi Downtown
By the end of the year patrons of Celebration Plaza and the downtown area could be enjoying free Internet, thanks to a $10,000 Rudy Bruner Award.
The city was nominated for the national award by Ian Lockwood of Toole Design Group, the design engineer behind the downtown revitalization project. From among many cities nominated across the country, Sulphur Springs was named a finalist for a Rudy Bruner Award.
“The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence is a national design award that recognizes transformative urban places distinguished by their economic and social contributions to America’s cities. Founded in 1986 by architect Simeon Bruner, the award promotes innovative thinking about the built environment by celebrating and sharing the stories of creative and inspiring urban development,” according to Rudy Bruner Award website.
One gold medal and four silver medals are awarded biennially. The Rudy Bruner gold medalist receives a $50,000 cash prize and each silver medalist receives $10,000.
“We didn’t win, but we got silver,” said Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell.
The funding will be utilized to expand the city’s internet pipeline so that WiFi is available to those who visit downtown. While free, there would be a few parameters for the free WiFi. Discussed was potentially limiting use to up to 4 hours per IP address per day, according to the city manager. All of the details have yet to be worked out for installation and use, but the service is expected to be installed this fall or winter.
The city was awarded the project for the redesigned, rebuilt and re-imagined downtown square, Main and Connally Streets.
“Sulphur Springs Downtown provides a great example of how to bring small towns back to life,” the 2019 Bruner Award Selection Committee noted.
As was the case in the development of the downtown area into the popular destination and thriving area of the city once more, many individuals contributed data and information to the Bruner application.
Maxwell provided a public agency perspective, Billie Ruth Standbridge provided a developer perspective, Ian Lockwood a professional consultant perspective as well as a project description, and Myra Watson the perspective of a real estate expert. The written part of the application was 20 pages, with at least that many more pages filled with color photos and descriptions of the area before and after the project.
Win Two Tickets to the Glory 30th Anniversary Event July 21 or 24, 2019
Fathom Events, TCM and Tristar Pictures bring Glory to select cinemas nationwide for a special 30th anniversary showing for two days only and includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies. The heart-stopping story of the first black regiment to fight for the North in the Civil War, GLORY stars Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman. Broderick and Elwes are the idealistic young Bostonians who lead the regiment; Freeman is the inspirational sergeant who unites the troops; and Denzel Washington, in an Oscar®- winning performance (1989, Best Supporting Actor), is the runaway slave who embodies the indomitable spirit of the 54th Regiment of Massachusetts. This truly classic American Civil War Film that is sure to reach you to your core.
For more information on dates and theater locations in Paris, TX click here.
Rules and Information: The digital tickets will be emailed to winners. NO PAPER TICKETS will be issued. A valid email address must be provided to KSST. All ticket validation, dates and theater locations will be handled by atomtickets.com
The tickets must NOT be resold!
Unclaimed tickets will be dispersed by KSST.
Employees of KSST/KRVA can not win.
Winners will be notified via Facebook. Winner’s names will be posted on Facebook.
How to enter: Like KSST on Facebook, AND like this Post on Facebook.
Peerless Cemetery Association Annual Cemetery Meeting and Lunch
The Annual Cemetery Meeting and Lunch of the Peerless Cemetery Association will be held Thursday, July 4th, beginning at 11:00AM. The Annual Memorial and Business Meeting will be held at the Peerless Cemetery, with a BBQ Lunch served following the meeting. All interested persons are invited to attend.
Winnsboro Police Department Report for June 24-30, 2019
Arrests
Juan Tapia-Rios, age 33, of Winnsboro, was arrested on 6/24/2019 for Assault Causing Bodily Injury -FV
Michael Divin, age 30, of Mt. Vernon, was arrested on 6/27/2019 on a Winnsboro Municipal Court warrant.
Accidents
No Accidents to Report.
Calls for Service
The Winnsboro Police Department responded to a total of 109 calls for service during this reporting period.
Citations
The Winnsboro Police Department issued 18 citations and 29 warnings during this reporting period.
Good Day Tuesday At The Edge Conditioning Program
Tuesday, July 2, was a good day for The Edge conditioning program as Wildcats Football Coach and Athletic Director Greg Owens got a positive report from Coach Matt Young concerning a weekly event that tests athletes mentally.
Usually done on Thursday, coaches switched things around and took athletes to Prim Stadium Tuesday to run up and down the stands. Apparently there was some complaining about running the stands earlier in The Edge. Coach Young said Tuesday the athletes figured some things out and were positive as they attacked the task.
Coach Owens said Edge athletes also had a day focusing on front squats in the weight room. He said his coaches tell athletes that tough people win. Coach Owens said The Edge was like military boot camp. He said athletes go through stuff and push themselves. He said eventually they realize “I can do this.”
Coach Owens was also pleased that the number of athletes at The Edge was up a little bit on Tuesday. He noted that there were only eight days of The Edge left. Two more days this week, only two days next week and a full 4-day week the following week. Coach Owens said players have a a sense of pride and consider it a badge of honor to make it all the way to the end of The Edge.
Coaches also mix in competition at The Edge. Coach Owens called competition the fun part of athletics.
Professor Lavelle Hendricks is 2019 Recipient of D. Frank Davis Professional and Community Outreach Award
In a letter dated July 1, 2019 from the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals, Pastor and Professor M. Lavelle Hendricks of Sulphur Springs has been selected as the 2019 recipient of the D. Frank Davis Professional and Community Outreach Award. This annual award, named after current Texas Certification Board Chairman Frank Davis, is awarded to recognize sustained and meritorious service to the profession of addiction counseling. Hendricks is Professor of Counseling at Texas A and M University, Commerce. His specialty is addiction disorders with research interest. He is also Pastor at East Caney Missionary Baptist Church in Hopkins County.
