Taylor to Seek Re-election to Place 4 on City Council
Thursday morning, January 31, 2019, Incumbent Freddie Taylor filed to seek re-election to Place 4 on the Sulphur Springs City Council. Taylor, local business leader, has served in various capacities on the council since he was sworn in June, 2004.
Opportunity to file for Places 4, 5, and 6 continue through February 15, 2019. Emily Glass, incumbent Place 5, filed for reelection on the morning of first day for filing. For Place 6 Doug Moore, who was appointed to the council until the May 4, 2019 Municipal Election, and Landon Thornton, who filed Tuesday afternoon, will be on the ballot.
Local Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography
In a follow-up on a child pornography tip, Hopkins County Criminal Investigator Corley Weatherford interviewed a 17-year old female victim regarding the tip and obtained suspect information regarding Kenneth Dwayne Mitchell, 57, of Sulphur Springs.
Investigator Weatherford and Hopkins County Sgt. Greer contacted Mitchell. Mitchell voluntarily went to the Sheriff’s office for an interview. During the interview, Mitchell admitted having pornographic photos of the victim. He also granted a forensic search of his cellular devices.
Mitchell was arrested Wednesday afternoon, January 30, 2019, for Possession of Child Pornography and is in Hopkins County Jail held on a $20,000 bond.
Historical Photo Quiz #11 – Autograph – Photo Added
There is no doubt about it, that is Justin Wilson, the famous cajun chef. At first we thought these images we taken at Howard’s. We learned that they where actually taken at the Grand Opening of Gibson’s. Mr. Wilson was on hand to sign autographs. Mr. Gibson spoke at the event. Gibson’s occupied the building we know as Fix-n-Feed at 1000 Gilmer St. 1973 is the consensus on the year.
Chamber Connection January 31, 2019
The Chamber has moved to its temporary location as of Friday, January 18th. Our new location is 128-A Jefferson Street which is a bit misleading. If you are looking for us, we are in the small building across from First Baptist Church and next to First Presbyterian Church off College Street. Come by and see us anytime!! We hope to be in our permanent location on the South side of the square by May. Big dreams are coming true!
The deadline is almost here for the 50th Anniversary Stew t-shirt/theme contest. We are hosting the contest EARLY so we can CELEBRATE all year!!!! If you have a great idea for the theme of this year’s stew contest, submit your entry via email to [email protected] by January 31st, 2019. Can’t wait to see your ideas!!! It’s gonna be big!!!
It is with great pleasure that the 2019 Board of Directors invites you to the 93rd Annual Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce Banquet on Thursday, February 14, at 6:00 p.m. at the Hopkins County Civic Center. We are introducing a Networking Cocktail half hour at 6:00 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30, and the awards will follow at 7 p.m. Please take this opportunity to bring your family, friends, and employees to an evening of dinner and community awards including Large and Small Business of the Year, Educator of the Year, Caregiver Award, Agriculturist of the Year, Woman of the Year, and Citizen of the Year. Our banquet theme is “Love Makes the World Go ‘Round!” and is set in various places around the world. This is your chance to bring your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day to enjoy a night bursting with community pride. Red attire is encouraged, but not required. Individual tickets are $30, and tables of ten are available for $500, which includes preferential seating and visible labeling of your business. We are excited for you and your business to join us for this extraordinary evening. Please make your reservation TODAY by calling Chelsea, Cathey, or Lezley at the Chamber of Commerce, (903) 885-6515, or by stopping by to visit at 128-A Jefferson Street (off College St.) in Sulphur Springs.
The Pilot Club is currently accepting nominations for Caregiver of the Year. These nomination forms can also be picked up at the Chamber of Commerce office. Finally, Beta Sigma Phi is accepting nominations for Woman of the Year. Nominations for this award should be mailed to Jimmie McEntire, P.O. BOX 72, Sulphur Springs, TX 75483.
Soulman’s Bar-B-Q is hosting their ribbon cutting celebration
Soulman’s Bar-B-Q is hosting their ribbon cutting celebration on Friday, February 1st at 11 a.m. They are located at 1201 S. Broadway. Please join us!
Hope Family Fellowship is hosting The Harvesters in concert
Hope Family Fellowship is hosting The Harvesters in concert on Saturday, February 2nd at 6 p.m. The concert is free with a love offering being received. Hope Family Fellowship is located at 434 Jefferson Street in Sulphur Springs. For more information, go to their website at www.hopefamily.tv.
Sulphur Springs Imaging holding an open house
Sulphur Springs Imaging, located at 109 Medical Circle in Sulphur Springs, is holding their third anniversary Open House on Tuesday, February 5th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. They invite you to join them for a come-and-go event with food, door prizes, and imaging information. For more information, Contact Stacey Wetzel at (903) 495-8100.
Flowerland Florist will host a ribbon cutting celebration
Flowerland Florist, located at 411 Gilmer in Sulphur Springs, will host a ribbon cutting celebration with their new owners on Monday, February 11th at noon. Please make plans to attend and welcome the new owners to Flowerland.
Texas A&M- Commerce hosting Career Fair
Texas A&M – Commerce Career Development is hosting a Non-Profit Career and Internship Fair on Tuesday, February 12th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the RSC Conference Rooms. Cost is $75 and includes one table for volunteer and intern recruitment, two lunch tickets, and two hours of student engagement. Please register at www.hirealion.com.
Ribbon Cuttings:
Chaffer’s Place Academy & Arts hosted ribbon cutting
Chaffer’s Place Academy & Arts hosted their ribbon cutting celebration at 410 Main Street in Sulphur Springs on Tuesday, January 29th at noon. Chaffer’s Place Academy & Arts will serve as a homeschooling entity as well as venue for local art and music education.
Tisdell Prefers Fast Paced Game for Lady Cats
Lady Cats Basketball Coach Brittney Tisdell said the Lady Cats 52-23 win over Greenville was a slow game for her team. She said she preferred a faster pace and higher tempo game. Coach Tisdell said she told her team that moving forward she wanted them to play an up tempo style. Still she called the victory a good team win.
The Lady Cats’ starters only played a little into the third quarter and then turned things over to reserves. Coach Tisdell said she could tell by how the team acted before the game that they might not play with the intensity they should have had. She admitted she became concerned when her subs started out with five turnovers in a row. Coach Tisdell said after that they settled down and did better.
The Lady Cats are 5-3 in district play and 23-6 overall. They host Mount Pleasant Friday evening at home on senior night.
Cipoletta says Wildcats Battled Back for Win at Greenville
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta said the way the Wildcats played Tuesday night was a recipe for a loss. Still he was proud of the way the Wildcats battled back, hit some late shots, played with more energy and came away with a win. The Wildcats defeated Greenville, 53-51 Tuesday night in the Lions’ Den.
Still Coach Cipoletta was concerned that the Wildcats struggled shooting the ball and didn’t execute for most of the night. He said there was a lot for the Wildcats to learn from that game. Sadaidriene Day Day Hall returned after missing four games with a concussion and Coach Cipoletta said at times the team tried to do too much. He gave a lot of credit to Greenville. He said they hit shots, killed the Wildcats on the boards and did some things that made it hard for the Wildcats to score.
Point guard Jeremiah Roland provided the Wildcats with a fantastic finish hitting a big three-pointer that put the Wildcats ahead and then deflecting a Greenville pass so that the Lions could not even take a final shot before the final horn sounded. Coach Cipoletta said Roland has been big for the Wildcats all season long on both offense and defense. He said Roland is being called on to do more with Keaston Willis out with a small fracture in his right ankle.
Coach Cipoletta was asked if Greenville showed other teams how to defend against the Wildcats daring them to shoot threes while packing the lane. Coach Cipoletta said he would love for teams to take that approach. He said Tuesday night was just one of those where the Wildcats had a hard time hitting shots. He said Grayson McClure started out 0 for 6 from behind the arc, Roland was 0 for 4 and Cameron Kahn had an off night from long range.
Still the Wildcats continue to play “first team to 53 points wins”. Three of the Wildcats wins have ended up Wildcats 53 Texas High 52, Wildcats 53 Royse City 52 and now Wildcats 53 and Greenville 51. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats are finding ways to win. He said the Wildcats have experience along with good senior leadership. He said the team prepares to be successful. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats difficult schedule full of highly ranked Class 6A teams has also worked to prepare the Wildcats. He said in those games, the Wildcats had a battle back and fight to the end time after time.
The Wildcats host Mount Pleasant on senior night Friday night.
Pecan Fundraiser Adds to Senior Citizen Center Building Fund
Sulphur Springs Senior Citizens Center Pecan Fundraiser garnered $1,600 for the New Senior Citizens Center building fund.. Susan Vaughn led the fundraiser. The result of the Pecan Fundraiser brings the total raised for the building fund thus far to $70,621.71.
Karon Weatherman, Senior Citizens Center Director says, “W e still have a long way to go to get the 1.2-million that we need for a new building. We will just keep plugging along until we get there. ANY and ALL donations are appreciated.”
Vaughn drove to Corsicana, Texas three times to pick up pecan orders.
The center hopes to conduct the fundraiser every Year as a Fund Raiser for the Senior Citizens Center.
SSHS Academic UIL Places First at MPHS Winter Tournament
District UIL CX Debate – SSHS Wildcat Cross-Examination Debate Teams competed at the District CX Debate meet this week at First Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, TX. While no teams advanced to the state meet, we are extremely proud of their efforts this year. The 2019 SSHS CX Debate Teams include seniors Felipe Alba and Dakota Soles, juniors James Draper and Matthew Robinson, and sophomores Mariam Tran and Kimberly Wheatcraft. CX Debate is coached by Josh Williams.
Mt. Pleasant High School Winter UIL Invitational Meet
Congratulations to the SSHS Wildcat UIL Academic Team who travelled to Mt. Pleasant this past weekend, January 25 – 26. As a team, our Wildcat UILers earned 472 points and won first place overall at the MPHS Winter Invitational. Congratulations to the following students and teams who brought home awards in their events.
| Ready Writing | Annmarie Gunn | 1st Place |
| Gail Herman Coach | Bracken Sant | 2nd Place |
| Breana Wooten | 3rd Place | |
| Computer Science | Dakota Soles | 1st Place |
| Matt Wilder, Coach | Kevin Orozco | 2nd Place |
| Blake Talmage | 3rd Place | |
| Andrew Westlund | 4th Place | |
| Alex Post | 5th Place | |
| Team (Soles, Orozco, Talmage) | 1st Place Team | |
| CX Debate | Felipe Alba | 5th Place |
| Josh Williams, Coach | ||
| LD Debate | Rhett Reid | 3rd Place |
| Josh Williams, Coach | ||
| Current Events | Brandon Hodges | 1st Place |
| Madison Millsap, Coach | Dakota Soles | 4th Place |
| James Draper | 6th Place | |
| Team (Hodges, Soles, Draper) | 2nd Place Team | |
| Prose Interpretation | Rachel Bramlett | 1st Place |
| Lesha Woodard, Coach | Hannah Shultz | 5th Place |
| Accounting | Caleb Yanez | 2nd Place |
| Paula Hass, Coach | Daniel Soto | 3rd Place |
| Number Sense | Andrew Westlund | 1st Place Overall |
| Gerald Grafton, Coach | 1st Place 11th Grade | |
| Bracken Sant | 4th Place Overall | |
| 3rd Place 11th Grade | ||
| Crystal Flores | 3rd Place 10th Grade | |
| Team (Westlund, Sant, Flores) | 2nd Place Team | |
| Calculator Applications | Carissa Carter | 6th Place Overall |
| Gerald Grafton, Coach | 4th Place (12th Grade) | |
| Kennedy Lee | 3rd Place (11th Grade) | |
| Isaac Gutierrez | 4th Place (11th Grade) | |
| Team (Carter, Lee, Gutierrez) | 3rd Place Team | |
| Mathematics | Andrew Westlund | 5th Place (11th Grade) |
| Gerald Grafton, Coach | Bracken Sant | 6th Place (11th Grade) |
| Crystal Flores | 3rd Place (10th Grade) | |
| Team (Westlund, Sant, Ivory Liu) | 3rd Place Team | |
| Science | Andrew Westlund | 3rd Place (11th Grade) |
| Steven Allemang,Coach | Jasmin Vargas | 6th Place (10th Grade) |
| Dylane Flies | 6th Place (9th Grade) | |
| Team (Westlund, Nick Porter, Kelley Bates) | 3rd Place Team | |
| Spelling and Vocabulary | Dawson Carpenter | 2nd Place |
| Gail Herman, Coach | Mariam Tran | 3rd Place |
| Gisselle Garcia | 4th Place | |
| Team – (Carpenter, Tran, Garcia) | 1st Place Team | |
| Literary Criticism | Carissa Carter | 1st Place |
| Gail Herman, Coach | Andrew Westlund | 2nd Place |
| Lainey Whittle | 3rd Place | |
| Mariana Botello | 5th Place | |
| Team – (Carter, Westlund, Whittle) | 1st Place Team | |
| Social Studies | Brandon Hodges | 2nd Place |
| Madison Millsap, Coach | ||
| Copy Editing | Angela Brown | 3rd Place |
| Brandon Nelson, Coach | Mariana Botello | 6th Place |
| News Writing | Mariana Botello | 1st Place |
| Brandon Nelson, Coach | Angela Brown | 3rd Place |
| Weston Vasquez | 5th Place | |
| Editorial Writing | Angela Brown | 1st Place |
| Brandon Nelson, Coach | Weston Vasquez | 2nd Place |
| Chris Yanez | 4th Place | |
| Feature Writing | Angela Brown | 1st Place |
| Brandon Nelson, Coach | Mariana Botello | 5th Place |
| Weston Vasquez | 6th Place | |
| Headline Writing | Angela Brown | 2nd Place |
| Brandon Nelson, Coach | Weston Vasquez | 5th Place |
| Journalism Team | Brown, Vasquez, Botello, Yanez | 1st Place Team |
Thornton Files to Seek Place 6 on Sulphur Springs City Council
Tuesday afternoon, January 29, 2019, Landon Thornton filed for Place 6 on the Sulphur Springs City Council. Thornton will face Doug Moore in the May 4th Municipal Election. Both men will seek a one year term to fill the unexpired term of Dan Froneberger, who resigned from the council in April last year. Moore was appointed in May to fill the place until the next election.
Thornton is a senior at Sulphur Springs High School and a member of the Cross Country Team. Thornton said, “As a young member of the community I see a growing need for my generation to start taking a vested interest in our flourishing community that the current and previous generations have provided us. It will soon be our job as young men and women to continue the growth and development that Sulphur Springs has enjoyed.”
Thornton says he is a proud brother, runner, and citizen born and raised in Sulphur Springs. In his first campaign statement, he said, “Today I seek to serve you on the City Council. I offer my strong values, creativity, and leadership which I believe will help further continued growth and development of our community. As a community with strong values comes the need for strong leadership! I pray that I may have your support and earn your vote.”
Opportunity to file for Places 4, 5, and 6 continue through February 15, 2019. Emily Glass, incumbent Place 5, filed for reelection on the morning of first day for filing. Currently Place 4 is held by Freddie Taylor. Taylor has said he will be filing for reelection.
