Chamber Connection For July 18, 2019
By Lezley Brown, President/CEO, Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce
It’s time again for a huge night of networking sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce! The Chamber is hosting The Chamber Showcase, a night of networking that features Chamber members in Hopkins County, on Thursday, Aug. 1, at the Sulphur Springs Country Club. Booth space is already sold out, but we encourage you attend the event for $10 and enjoy the opportunity to do it all in one night… just imagine food show + exhibit hall + speed networking! This will be a huge value and opportunity for you and your business! Only Chamber members may host booths, but anyone may attend to network and meet business professionals from our area. You will be so glad you came! Call the Chamber to ask questions or make reservations at (903) 885-6515.
The Chamber is excited to announce our vendor call for the Stew Fest Market! On July 1, the Chamber began accepting vendors for the Stew Fest Market, which will be located on the south side of Buford Park during Friday night and Saturday Stew Contest activities. This is a great opportunity to sell goods or to promote your business to 7,000 people who attend the Stew Contest annually. Vendors may rent booth space to sell goods or distribute information about their business. Booths will be assigned on a first-paid basis. Access to electricity is not guaranteed. Generators are permitted. Desserts may be sold, but no other food or drinks may be distributed. Vendors who are interested in purchasing booth space, call the Chamber of Commerce at (903) 885-6515.
Chaffer’s Place presents their monthly concert
Chaffer’s Place, located at 410 Main Street in Sulphur Springs, is hosting a live concert called The Franklin Wonder Tribute Show. Concert will be held on July 18, and doors will open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door, and $25 for table reservations. This includes dinner and a show! For more information call 470-848-2246 or visit www.ckproductions.info.
Prim Rose Estates is participating in Operation Fresh and Spicy Supply Drop
Prim Rose Estates is participating in Operation Fresh and Spicy Supply Drop which is a drive to gather goods for the troops. They are looking for donations of hot sauce, beef jerky, icy hot, black socks, wet wipes, 5-blade razors, Axe body spray, and hand sanitizer. Goods will be collected until July 22, at Prim Rose Estates located at 1000 South League Street. Please drop off items if you can!
Hunt Regional is offering Mobile Mammography Coach in Sulphur Springs
Hunt Regional Hospital is offering the Tubby Adkisson Memorial Mobile Mammography Coach on July 25, in the Spring Village Shopping Center in Sulphur Springs. All insurances accepted at Hunt Regional are also accepted for the Mobile Mammography Coach, including Medicare and Medicaid. To schedule individual screening mammograms, please call (903) 408-5010. Appointments and pre-registration are requested.
Main Street Theater Children’s Workshop Presents Jungle Book
The Main Street Theater Children’s Summer Workshop Presents Jungle Book on two upcoming weekends. The first weekend is July 26 and 27 at 7 p.m., with a 2 p.m. matinee performance on the 28th. The second weekend of performances will be Aug. 2 and 3 at 7 p.m., with a matinee performance on the 4th at 2 p.m. Online reservations can be made at www.communityplayersinc.com or by calling (903) 885-0107. Main Street is located at 225 Main Street in Sulphur Springs.
RIBBON CUTTINGS
Meraki hosted one-year anniversary celebration
Meraki, located at 217 Main Street in Sulphur Springs, hosted their one-year anniversary celebration and ribbon cutting at noon Wednesday, July 10. Make sure to go by and congratulate Meraki on their first year of business in Hopkins County.
Rock Creek celebrated their 10th Anniversary
Rock Creek Health & Rehab celebrated their 10th anniversary of operating in Hopkins County. They hosted a Business After Hours on Tuesday, July 16, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. with a ribbon cutting at 5:30 p.m. Rock Creek is located at 1414 College Street.
County 2019-2020 Holiday Calendar Approved
Hopkins County employees will enjoy 12 days off during the 2019-2020 year, thanks to the calendar approved this week by Hopkins County Commissioners Court. The county courthouse will be closed on the approved holiday dates.
The calendar fairly mirrors the past year’s calendar, with one exception, according to Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom.
Veterans Day will no longer be a county holiday. With so many events scheduled on Nov. 11 bringing people to the square, the county officials opted to join the city and schools who are open that day. This would allow the many who wish to visit and tour the courthouse while downtown to do so on Veterans Day.
Instead of Veterans Day, the county will observe President’s day on Monday, Feb. 17.
The courthouse and county offices will be closed on Labor Day, New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Good Friday and Memorial Day. Independence Day falls on Saturday in 2020, so the day will be observed on Friday, July 3, with closing of county offices.
County employees will have two days off each for Thanksgiving and Christmas as well.
While most county offices are closed on these holidays, emergency departments such as the sheriff’s office patrol and fire department will still be on duty during holidays to respond as needed to calls.
Tira News For July 17, 2019
By Jan Vaughn
Rick and Judy Petty had all their children and grandchildren here for the weekend – Chris, Robin and Trey Petty and his friend Bennett Moyer from Cedar Park, Texas; Tyler and Caitlin Petty from Phoenix, Arizona; and Trever Petty and his girlfriend Ellen Ihnen from College Station, Texas; Ronnie, Amy and Macy Green from Cooper, Texas; and Mitchell Green and fiancée Rhalie Weathers from Lake Creek, Texas.
Judy shares, “Robin and Caitlin Petty, Ellen Ihnen and Margaret Eudy hosted a Baby Shower for Mitchell and Rhalie (and, of course, Carter).”
We want to express our appreciation to everyone who contributed to the Tira Cemetery Association at the homecoming and by mail … also to Floyd Lawson for taking care of the cemetery grounds.
Dorothy Hargrave reports that the families of Lewis, Braden, King, Speaks, Hobgood, Joslin and Parker met at the Tira Community Center for their yearly reunion. Several were absent due to graduations, etc.
She comments, “We missed them.” She adds, “It was a beautiful day and the center was dressed so lovely. The food was plentiful and delicious, as usual. After the business meeting, eating was enjoyed. Johnny Parker led singing of old church hymns and led in prayer.”
Johnny expressed thanks to Dorothy for the work she had done, and then they had a drawing for the ‘traveling cross’ and Johnny was the winner. A very nice contribution was made for the center and the volunteer fire department. Everyone enjoyed the auction and went home with some treasures.
Those in attendance were Clovis Hobgood, Dorothy Lewis Hargrave, Wesley Hobgood, Kage Hobgood, Bill and Joan Speaks, Sr., Michael and Donna Zamora, Imogene King Phillips, Michael Hobgood, Rachel Lewis, Rick and Donna Hobgood, Tandi Lewis Pettigrew, Sherman and Loretta Crawford, Greg and Pam Hargrave, Gary Lewis, Randy and Becky Hargrave, Johnny Parker, James, Jeanna, and Hayley Schaare, Larry Clayton, Wanda Lewis Clayton, Judy Lewis, Dewayne and Jeannie Hobgood, Carolyn King Allen, Anna Baldison, and Jeremy Allen.
Landon, Laiken, Dixie, Rylan, Brailon, Slaiden and Dixie came down for hamburgers and ice cream on Saturday evening. Malcolm Joslin went to Malvern, Arkansas on Saturday to pick up Jaidyn. They joined us for supper that night. The kids had fun playing on the riding toys until the mosquitoes took over, and then they came in and played games on the phone and tablets. Jaidyn stayed for a few days to participate in the volleyball camp at North Hopkins School.
Linda Ellen Vaughn, Chip’s sister, treated us and Grace Vaughn, their mother, to lunch at Red Lobster in Greenville on Sunday for our anniversary. That evening after church, Keith and Frances Klein invited us over for apple pie and ice cream. It was a very nice anniversary.
I always need and appreciate input from my friends to help keep me informed of news in our community. If you have any news pertaining to Tira residents, past or present, please contact me, Jan Vaughn, at 903-438-6688 or [email protected].
SSISD To Meet Thursday For Special Budget Work Session
Sulphur Springs Independent School District Board of Trustees have scheduled a special noon meeting Thursday, July 18, to continue working on the budget.
The special meeting date was set at the board’s regular July 8 meeting, following a budget workshop. Officials had hoped to be further along in the process, but were still making adjustments for recent legislative changes which impact school funding and spending, including requiring multiple updates to the template used for budgeting.
Business Manager Sherry McGraw and Superintendent Michael Lamb were slated last week to attend a workshop hosted by Region VIII Service Center for additional information about the impact of House Bill 3 and other legislative changes which impact school finances, and how to properly implement them. One of those changes was a requirement for teacher raises.
The district in a special board meeting July 1 approved a new teacher pay scale, which increases the starting pay for a SSISD teacher by $5,000, raising the starting teacher pay from $40,000 to $45,000.
McGraw during the July 8 meeting told officials typically, her office is able to conservatively estimate district revenues and focus the majority of their budget building efforts on expenses for the upcoming year. However, this year, so far, more attention has been dedicated to revenues, which change due to the legislative changes, allowing far less time to begin intensive scrutiny on projected expenditures for the 2019-2020 fiscal year, which begins Sept. 1. As of the July 8 meeting, the working budget figures showed a projected shortfall in the general fund budget of $136,707.
Utilizing the additional time and training, McGraw anticipates presenting a more complete budget projection for trustees to look over during the July 18 session. She projects a more balanced budget, and said officials too will be working to try to develop a pay scale with addition funding for other school employees as well.
After the budget work session, trustees Thursday will have the option to enter into executive session to discuss any personnel items presented for board approval since the last meeting. Trustees will then reconvene in open session to take action on any recommendations pushed forward from the closed session.
Trustees have held several additional meeting during the summer to approve staff hiring to try to fill all positions with highly qualified teachers and staff as soon as possible before the new school year starts next month.
The July 18 noon board meeting will be held in the board room of SSISD Administration Building, 631 Connally St.
‘Jungle Book the Musical’ is Product of Children’s Summer Workshop 2019
It was a maximum size class of youngsters age 6-17 that signed up for the Community Players’ annual Children Summer Theater Workshop. Now, after nine weeks of preparation, 35 students are ready to don their costumes and present the beloved classic in six public performances.
According to Director David Woody, Rudyard Kipling’s collection of stories was first published in magazines in 1893. The stories featured animals from Kipling’s childhood home in India in major character roles. When Woody selected the play for this summer’s 2019 Workshop project, he chose not a Disney adaptation, but a classic adaptation by Mike Carter of Maverick Musicals which features the book’s beloved characters Mowgli, Shere Khan, Kaa and more. Some students were assigned characters and speaking roles and others portray animals in non-speaking roles. Other students have gained experience by being assigned lighting, sound, sets, stage management and other support roles. And according to Woody, the contribution of parents in helping memorize lines, set building and costume construction has been invaluable. “It really is a co-operative effort each summer, and we build lasting relationships through the Workshop. I’ve seen students discover acting, then carry that love of the stage through high school and college, into adult life and some even into careers. Part of their learning involves working alongside others for a common goal, learning how to express themselves well , how to take direction, and finally to take pride in a quality product which they collectively created for the enjoyment of others”. Woody also expressed pride in directing the Children’s Theater Workshop on the home stage at 225 Main Street, where the Sulphur Springs Community Players have presented live community theater for 25 years.
See “Jungle Book the Musical” on Friday July 26 and Saturday July 27 at 7 pm, and on Sunday July 28 at 2 pm. The same schedule is planned for August 2, 3 and 4. Tickets are $10 each, and are available online at communityplayersinc.com, or by calling the Box Office at 903-885-0107. A limited number of tickets may be available at the door at each performance. This fall, plan to catch “Greater Tuna”, “The Never Ending Story” and A Christmas Carol” onstage at Main Street Theater, or audition for a role!
Front Row: Nathan Bilyeu (Mowgli), David Woody and Aspen Mayhew (Shere Khan)
Truck-Train Crash Tuesday Evening Resulted In 1 Death
A 39-year-old man died Tuesday evening in a truck-train collision just off State Highway 11 east near Cornersville, according to authorities.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office deputies, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, Winnsboro Police officers and Winnsboro, Hopkins county and Pickton Pine Forest firefighters were dispatched at 7 p .m. Tuesday, July 16 to crash involving a train and pickup truck just off State Highway 11 east near County Road 2404 winnsboro. However, the crash was found to have occurred on a private drive off SH 11 in the Cornersville area, according to sheriff’s reports.
The 39-year-old in the pickup was reportedly exiting the a private drive north of SH 11, west of a railroad crossing near Cornersville. The private drive reportedly had signs warning of the crossing, but no signals or cross arms. A witness told authorities the man never slowed down as he approached the railroad tracks in the truck. The pickup was struck broadside by the train. The lone occupant in the truck was extricated from the vehicle he was driving by Winnsboro firefighters, according to HCSO Chief Deputy Tanner Crump.
Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Brad Cummings was contacted; he pronounced the pickup driver dead a short time later. The deceased was identified by authorities Wednesday morning as 39-year-old Jose Jesus Flores-Celestino.
The train also sustained some damage, requiring repairs before it could continue. However, the train stopped down track off of SH 11, allowing the highway to remain open while authorities worked and investigated the crash, according to Crump.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers made an incident report instead of crash report as it occurred in a private drive rather than a public highway. Flores-Celestino had reportedly been working and staying in the area, according to authorities.
Pita Pal Foods LP Recalls Various Hummus And Dips Due to Possible Health Risk
If you like hummus, be sure to check the label, as numerous hummus products from Pita Pal Foods LP of Houston are being recalled due to potential Listeria monocytogenes identified at the manufacturing facility (not in finished product) during an FDA inspection.
This affects several brands of hummus products made between May 30, 2019 and June 25, 2019, including Bucee’s, Fresh Thyme, Harris Teeter.
The products were distributed nationwide and to United Arab Emirates. Pita Pal Foods, in announcement of the voluntary recall, urges consumers who have purchased the identified products to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 832-803-9295 or email [email protected].
For a full list of impacted products should visit the FDA website
For a full list of impacted products, visit the FDA website.
Listeria monocytogenes is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
No illnesses have been reported to date for these products. The company is issuing this recall out of an abundance of caution, according to the FDA release.
Road Repairs, Water District Board Members Discussed By Commissioners Court
County Commissioners this week took another step toward attaining federal funding to help with cost of repairs to certain roads damaged in past storms, heard comments from a resident regarding condition of her county road and queries regarding the repair process and appointed new water improvement district board members.
Hazard Mitigation Grants
On Monday, they approved submission of multiple hazard mitigation grant applications for DR-4416, to allow the county judge to served as chief executive officer and representative to act in all maters in connection with the FEMA mitigation grants; and to provide a 25 percent or more in local matching funds to secure and complete the DR-4416 grants. These funds would be for disaster recovery efforts.
Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom pointed out that in 2015, the county had two major disasters and received relief for two major disasters. That money is still coming in.
County Road Concerns
A citizen also approached the commissioners court during their regular session Monday regarding what she described as the county’s “more reactive approach to getting our county roads fixed as opposed to a proactive approach.”
Becky Emmert said she and her husband had purchased land 20 years ago on County Road 2346, and have worked on the land to make it a full retirement home. They fully retired last May. Emmert said the road.
“Every time we call and voice an issue, ask for someone to come and look at the roads and just discuss with us what their plan might be, all we hear is excuses. We would rather hear a resolution, or ‘This is what we’re working on to get everyone paved,’ instead of just, ‘I’ve got this many miles of road to take care of and its been raining and can’t catch up,'” Emmert told the commissioners during the public forum portion of Monday’s court session.
Precinct 2 Commissioner Greg Anglin asked her when her road was last “completely grounds up and redone.”
“September of 2017 is when it was done. The road started out being dirt. After numerous encounters, getting it graded and passable again. Funds came from FEMA. Our road did get some pavement in September of 2017. Now, there are areas that are impassable. There’s one turn on it where there are three huge potholes that cover the entire width of the road. We have a little business man picking up some hay, I was afraid he was going to lose a bale turning that corner,” Emmert told the commissioners court.
Anglin pointed out that there are roads that haven’t hard any repair work in 4-6 years or more. There are other roads with even more serious repair needs as well.
“I’ve checked on your road.It does have a couple of blow outs from all the rain we’ve had this past winter …. I discussed that with you on the phone,” Anglin told Emmert.
“Again, I’m hearing excuses and I’d like to hear a resolution: ‘This is what we’re doing and this is what we’re going to do.’ I don’t here there’s a plan of action in line,” Emmert rejoined.
Anglin said Precinct 2 workers are busy on other roads right now, but when time permits plans to make their way to CR 2346 to try to repair some of the worst damages. The “road season” is almost half over, but precinct workers still have quite a bit of ground to cover, thanks to the heavy fall rains and subsequent rain the county has experienced almost weekly since
Emmert said she and others have done some “research” driving on randomly selected county roads in all four precincts throughout the county. While the road they live on isn’t the worst, others in other precincts have received patch work for holes as small as six inches across. Theirs is in need of serious repairs, she told the court.
This is our fourth commissioner since we purchased this land. It’s the same thing over and over again. Is there something we can do to help turn around that negative environment and make it more proactive?” Emmert asked.
“That is what my intent in Precinct 2 is. We’re trying hard. We’re patching roads every day. The weather has been pretty bad starting out this year. You know that. It’s rained nearly every week. You can’t fix roads with it raining. You can go out there and patch them, but it washes them right back out. We’ve done it in that bottom numerous times, as you said, to keep the school bus going through. We’re trying; it just takes time,” Anglin told her.
Emmert also asked how tax dollars are divided among the four precincts, and how the budget is aligned to cover costs of road repairs.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Wade Bartley explained that $6.25 of every $100 paid in county taxes goes to maintenance of county roads.
“We are very limited in funds we have to work with. We try to make the best use of the funds we have. Labor comes out first, what’s left we use to put on roads. Every person that lives in the city also lives in the county. They pay county taxes but they don’t live on a county road; they pay to maintain our roads in the county. If we didn’t have that, we’d be in worse shape. It’s just a struggle, a struggle for us to work on in the budget every year, to try to stretch those dollars as far as we can, keep those in good shape,” Bartley said.
Newsom pointed out that if the county receives the grants for which they are submitting documents, Precinct 2 will receive more federal funding awarded to help with repairs due to the damages from last October’s flooding rains. Precinct 1 was also noted to be among the areas to have damages and receive notification of qualification for grant funding to help with recovery efforts.
Budget
The commissioners court held budget work sessions daily last week, and had scheduled another during their regular meeting Monday. Each county department’s budget is looked at and analysed for effectiveness and needs, as well as revenues, to begin getting a firm handle on how much will be needed for all county operations next year, and whether some departments will have to pair down costs. Among the function in the precinct budgets are road budgets.
Lake Fork Creek WCID
Also during that meeting Andy Wright approached the court, asking them to consider approving the appointment of three men to the Lake Fork Creek Water Control Improvement District #1, in an effort to rejuvenate the board so repairs can be made. He said most of the previous members have all died. Rejuvenation of the board will allow business to proceed.
The court gave unanimous approval to the recommendation of Cody Koon, John Holland and Dale Guest to serve as directors to the Laek Fork Creek Water Improvement District #1.
Wismettac Asian Foods Recalls Fish Cakes Due to Undeclared Allergens
Wismettac Asian Foods, Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, California has issued a voluntary recall for eight types of Shirakiku brand imported fish cake products because of the possible contamination of some allergens.
People who have a sensitivity to milk, egg or shellfish run the risk of serious or life threatening allergic reaction if they consume the prepared fish product.
The recall includes the following SKF Fish Cake products: Iwashi Ten, Bouten, Minch Ball, Ohban Age, Gobo Maki, Ika Maki, Age Ball and Satsuma Age.
The product was distributed to retail stores in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington DC, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
The recall was discovered through testing conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which discovered the presence of the listed allergens that were not listed on the product label. The manufacturer in Kagoshima, Japan has been made aware of the issue and is conducting an investigation to determine the cause of the issue so corrections can be implemented, according to an FDA press release.
To ensure consumer safety, all distribution of the affected products have ceased and retailers have been notified for the removal from shelves. No illnesses have been reported to date.
Consumers with questions may contact the company at [email protected].
This marks Wismettac Asian Foods’ second recall in the last week. On July 10, the company issued recalls on the Shirakiku Fried Fish Cakes Gobou Maki and Ika Maki sold in British Columbai, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec due to egg not being declared on the product labels, according to Canada Department of Health.
This recall was triggered by Canadian Food Inspection Agency test results. The CFIA is conducting a food safety investigation, which may lead to the recall of other products. If other high-risk products are recalled, the CFIA will notify the public through updated Food Recall Warnings.
The CFIA is verifying that industry is removing recalled product from the marketplace.
2 Cumby Men Arrested On Criminal Neglect of Child Warrants
Two Cumby men were taken into custody Monday afternoon on one warrant each for abandoning or endangering a child-criminal negligence.
Cumby Police Chief Paul Robertson and Officer Hundley were notified by dispatchers that warrants had been issued for the arrest of two Cumby residents. Officers went to their home, located in the 200 block of Main Street at 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 15, where they served the warrants and took 39-year-old Travis Eugene Case and 18-year-old Joshua A. Case into custody.
Both Joshua Case and Travis Case remained in Hopkins County jail Tuesday morning, July 16. Bond was set at $10,000 each on the abandoning or endangering of a child-criminal negligence charge, according to jail reports.
