Mid-Summer Update on Local Student Activities
Summer School for students in K-5th grade is going on at the Sulphur Springs Elementary School campus. Classes are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 am til 2 pm through July 25. The summer classes focus on reading skills. Students also work with skilled classroom teachers in math and science and they also participate in PE and Library time. This is the first year for students enrolled in the Dual Language Two-Way program. About 160 students have enrolled in the Summer School program.
Camp Bright Star is a YMCA-sponsored summer camp for local children ages 5-12. Cost is $81 per week per child. The YMCA-supervised camp offers fun and activities, snacks, breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday through August 2. It is held on the Sulphur Springs Elementary School campus. To inquire about enrolling, contact [email protected] or phone Felicia at 469-276-8421.
The 4H Day Camp is a three-week youth activity camp which concluded on Friday June 28. The ‘Fun, Food and Fitness’ camp is directed by agent Johanna Hicks of the Agri-Life Extension Service in Hopkins County. It focuses on nutrition and physical activity. A maximum size class was held this year, with 40 campers.
The Summer Food Service has had good turnout for June. On some days, up to 250 children are served free breakfast, lunch or both. It is free to any children up to age 18, regardless of income level, residence or school district. The Summer Lunch program is served at the Sulphur Springs Elementary School campus from 7:45 til 8:30 am for breakfast and 10:45 am til 12:30 pm for lunch,Mondays through Thursday through July 25.
Li’L 4’s Kids Club is a local non-profit organization for inner city children which also utilizes the Summer Food program. Director is Letitia Conliffe. Find out more by calling 214-809-1908.
Plan to Attend the Huge Independence Concert and Fireworks on Celebration Plaza Saturday June 29, 8pm
Your special invitation to attend is from Bank President Tom Sellers of Alliance Bank, Paul Harvey, CEO of CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital, Mickey McKenzie, President of Grocery Supply Inc and the Board of Directors of the Northeast Texas Symphony League. Bring your family and neighbors, and your lawn chairs, and don’t miss the most dazzling heart-stirring community event of the year that’s totally free to attend! Following a Veteran’s Parade onto the town square at 8pm, the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra will begin a program of stirring patriotic selections that are real crowd pleasers! During the evening, sign up at the KSST tent to win a deluxe flag kit, and stay for darkness to fall when the fireworks begin! For people who love Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County, there’s nothing more memorable than seeing Old Glory wave in the breeze as fireworks explode in colorful starbursts above the courthouse and the Sulphur Springs city skyline. The memories you make can last a lifetime!
Be aware that there may be some areas near the northeast corner of the square which are blocked from vehicle parking, due to close proximity to the fireworks detonation area. For safety reasons, these no-parking and no-standing zones have been designated. Your cooperation is appreciated by organizers of the event. Thanks go out to all the volunteers, the local event sponsors and the musicians as well as the Northeast Texas Symphony Orchestra Board of Directors.
CASA Looking For Volunteers
Ever thought you would like to help a child in need? Become an advocate to a child in foster care by volunteering as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. Over 50 children enter state care each day in Texas. There are Hopkins County (Franklin and Rains Counties, too) children right now that need a CASA advocate. Every child deserves a safe, happy future. Contact Lake Country CASA to learn how you can be a voice to make a difference in a child’s life. To learn more about volunteering, Call: (903) 885-1173 or email them at: [email protected]
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. We are a national organization of volunteers that judges appoint to speak for the safety and well-being of abused and neglected children. The volunteer status of the CASAs ensures that the children’s well-being remains the sole objective of the CASAs.
Lake Country CASA Mission
To be a voice for abused and neglected children through the power of volunteer advocacy and change in the child protection system.
Volunteer Training
Volunteers get to know the child by talking with everyone in that child’s life; parents and relatives, foster parents, teachers, medical professionals, attorneys, social workers and others. They use the information they gather to inform judges and others of what the child needs and what will be the best permanent home for them.
CASA trains and supports passionate adults who fight for a child’s right to be safe, to be treated with dignity, and to learn and grow in the security of a loving family.
The Edge Conditioning Program Hits Half Way Point
Sulphur Springs ISD’s The Edge conditioning program hit roughly the half way point after workouts Thursday morning (June 27). Three weeks are done with roughly three weeks to go. There will be no Edge on Tuesday, July 9 and Wednesday, July 10. Wildcats Football Coach and Athletic Director Greg Owens says these are UIL mandated dead days and no athletes are allowed at athletic facilities. That leaves ten days of The Edge left. Full weeks Monday through Thursday the weeks of July 1 and July 15 and workouts in between Monday, July 8 and Thursday, July 11. The Edge wraps up Thursday, July 18. Coach Owens says The Edge continues to be beneficial for those who are attending. With skills training going on in various sports, Coach Owens estimates that around 200 athletes are involved in boys and girls basketball, volleyball, boys and girls soccer, freshman football, varsity and JV football and middle school athletics. When Coach Owens gets frustrated by athletes not attending The Edge, he says Offensive Coordinator Matt Young reassures him by saying that those kids they are depending upon are here. Coach Owens says athletes attending The Edge are seeing results. He says The Edge workout enders, such as gassers, 80-yard runs and hill running at Coleman Lake, are being done much easier now than weeks ago. Coach Owens says The Edge includes old stuff his coaching staff has been doing for years along with ideas borrowed from Michael Johnson Performance last summer and new things brought in by Wildcats Defensive Coordinator Alex Guerra, who is into certified athletic training. Coach Owens says his staff also picked up some ideas from a speed and strength event at Baylor. He says The Edge concentrates on speed, agility and strength. Coach Owens says a big emphasis this year is on developing and athlete’s glutes and hamstrings.
Central Baptist To Hold 70th Anniversary Celebration
Central Baptist Church’s 70th anniversary will be celebrated Sunday, June 30, with special guests, food and fellowship.
A combined service for all ages will begin at 10:30 a.m. No formal Sunday school will be held June 30, but all are welcome arrive early for fellowship at 9:30; breakfast will be provided.
Bro. Don Baier will be the special guest speaker and worship will be led by Jason Starrett for the anniversary service.
Lunch will be available in the Family Life Center after the morning service. Church families have been asked to bring at least two side dishes to share; meat will be provided.
An early afternoon service will immediately follow lunch. No eveing services are scheduled.
All current and past members, along with the community, are invited to these special celebratory anniversary services starting at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 30.
Central Baptist Church is located at 840 Connally St., at the corner of Connally and League streets, across from Kids Kingdom. For additional information, call the church office at 903-885-3660 or visit ww.atcentral.org
‘Men’s Health and Prostate Cancer’ Interview with Dr. Loren Ost, Urologist
Meet Loren Ost M.D, a Urologist practicing in Sulphur Springs at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital’s Healthplex, 113 Airport Road. Dr. Ost shares his clinic with Nurse Practitioner Leah Irving, a career nurse who has assisted his practice for the eight years since Dr. Ost established his practice in Sulphur Springs. Originally from Chicago, trained in Cincinnati and with a 10-year practice in his home state of Illinois, Dr. Ost came to Texas in 2011 to serve men’s health needs in NE Texas. Today, he sees patients from within a region stretching from Greenville to Texarkana, and from Paris to Tyler. He gives credit to CHRISTUS Health for continuing to provide Hopkins County and surrounding counties with invaluable professional health care close to home. New physicians are coming onto the CHRISTUS team,recently in Gastroenterology, Orthopedics and Pain Management.
Dr. Ost Urology Clinic provides care for men’s health needs. Primarily, his message during the KSST Good Morning Show interview was about early detection of prostate cancer. Despite a government panel which in recent years spoke of early detection procedures as unnecessary, Dr. Ost continues to remind men of the danger in waiting to have prostate screening. “Our wives, daughters and mothers wisely submit to mammograms through their lives as a step in early detection and prevention of breast cancer. Men should take the probability of prostate cancer just as seriously. Cancer of the prostate is silent and painless until advanced stages, and by then it’s too late. There is no cure for prostate cancer. This is why we rely on early detection and prevention”.
Dr. Ost explained further that the screening is a simple two-step process; a blood test followed by a physical exam. The blood test will reveal the PSA count, and the physical exam will reveal possible abnormalities in tissue. Beyond that, there is biopsy which tests tissues. Biopsies are done in the Urology clinic and require no sedation or hospital stay. If cancer is detected from the biopsy, it maybe one of several varieties which can be managed. It could be a slow-growing type where no immediate action is required, or at the other end of the spectrum, it might be an aggressive fast-growing cancer which requires fast action”. Dr. Ost encourages men age 45 to 50 should begin having screenings as part of their personal health regime. And for men whose grandfather, father or brother has had prostate cancer, his advice is to begin annual screenings earlier than that. If prostate cancer is detected, treatments exist. Dr. Ost and the CHRISTUS team of physicians have access to the latest in technology. “
Man Who Allegedly Followed Former Girlfriend After Disturbance Jailed For DWI
A 24-year-old Sulphur Springs man alleged to have followed his ex-girlfriend from a disturbance toward the sheriff’s office ended up going to jail for drunk driving, according to sheriff’s reports.
Sulphur Springs police first became aware of the man after stopping a white pickup about 2:50 a.m. Thursday in the 300 block of Rosemont Street for a taillight violation. As he did, the officer reported seeing a white Toyota Corolla that appeared to have been following the truck pull into a nearby parking lot.
The officer asked if the car was following her and she allegedly told the officer the man was her ex-boyfriend. She claimed she was driving to the sheriff’s office in reference to a disturbance involving the man, according to police reports.
The policeman reported the white car pulled in behind him, while he was talking to the woman. The woman was asked but reportedly denied having been assaulted. She reportedly claimed the man had been drinking alcohol, they’d become involved in a verbal altercation and he didn’t want her to leave the residence.
Police reported the man had glassy eyes and an alcohol odor emitted from his breath while talking to the officer. The officer, in arrest reports, noted that he observed what appeared to be vomit on one shoulder and that the man was not wearing pants, only boxer shorts.
The officer had the man step out of his vehicle and conducted standard field sobriety tests. Based on those results and a breath test at the sheriff’s office, the so the man was arrested for DWI, according to arrest reports.
Sulphur Springs Woman Served With Eviction Notice, Misdemeanor Warrant
A 42-year-old Sulphur Springs woman was not only served with an eviction notice but taken to jail on a misdemeanor theft warrant Wednesday evening.
Precinct 2 Constable Bill Allan, accompanied by Hopkins County Sheriff’s Cpl. Todd Evans and Deputy Chris Baumann, went to a Helm Lane apartment to serve the female resident with eviction papers. He was also informed the woman was wanted for theft of service.
Allan reported talking to Evans earlier in the day; Evans “agreed to meet me at the residence at 5:15 due to reported threats received by apartment management,” Allan alleged in arrest reports.
Upon arrival, they went to the woman’s door, where the officers served the eviction notice and warrant. She was jailed on the warrant; the offense was alleged to have occurred on Feb. 21, according to arrest reports.
The 42-year-old woman remained in the county jail Thursday morning, June 27, on the misdemeanor charge. Bond was set at $2,000 on the theft of service valued at $750 or more but less than $2,500 charge, according to jail reports.
