Weather Advisory Extended Until 3 p.m. for Hopkins and Rains Counties
A significant weather advisory has been extended until 3 p.m. for Hopkins, Rains, Van Zandt and Southern Dallas Counties as Doppler Radar is tracking a strong line of thunderstorms stretching from Paris to near Campbell. Movement of the line of storms is southeast at 30 mph. Half inch hail and wind gusts up to 40 mph are possible until 3 p.m. May 25, 2018.
Significant Weather Advisory Issued Until 2 p.m. for Hopkins, Delta, Hunt, Lamar, and Rockwall Counties
A significant weather advisory has been issued for Hopkins, Hunt, Delta, Lamar and Rockwall Counties as Doppler Radar is tracking a strong line of thunderstorms stretching from Paris to near Campbell. Movement of the line of storms is southeast at 30 mph. Half inch hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible until 2 p.m. May 25, 2018.
Eighth Judicial District Court Has Busy Week
Two men were among those sentenced in Eighth Judicial District Court this past week.
In a probation revocation hearing, Bradley Ray Skidmore, 63, was sentenced to nine (9) months in county jail for Credit Card or Debit Card Abuse, a State Jail Felony. The conviction dated back to February, 2017. Skidmore was located by Hopkins County Deputies at a Charles Street residence in the city. He was wanted on a warrant for Credit Card or Debit Card Abuse.
The theft of less than $20 worth of spark plugs at Wal-Mart served to revoke the probation of Keith Allan Burnham, 51, for Theft of Property less than $2,500, two or more times. According to Assistant District Attorney Matt Harris, Burnham’s long criminal history enhanced the punishment range to up to 10 years. Burnham was sentenced to 10 years in TDJC.
Others sentenced this week include Victoria Grace Brawley and William Hunter Ward
Sulphur Springs Man Arrested for Selling Marijuana in Drug Free Zone
In an investigation in the 400 block of Adkins Street, Special Crimes Unit officers observed Jacob Nathaniel Granger, 21, of Sulphur Springs, sell suspected marijuana. The location had been under investigation. During a pat down, Granger admitted to having a gram of marijuana in his pocket. He also admitted to having more marijuana in his apartment. The sale and possession of marijuana took place within 1000ft of a Drug Free Zone.
Jacob Nathaniel Granger
Granger showed officers a safe in the apartment. There, officers found approximately 2.45 ounces of marijuana.
Granger is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Possession of Marijuana more than 2oz but less than 4oz in a Drug Free Zone and Delivery of Marijuana less than one quarter ounce in a Drug Free Zone. Both charges are State Jail Felonies.
CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic Breaks Ground for New Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Building
Thursday afternoon CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Building. The building will expand services with 10 rooms available for patients. The clinic should be open in August of this year.
Paul Harvey, CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital CEO, welcomed guests. He recognized the Hospital Foundation, City Manager Marc Maxwell, Fall Festival Cover Girl, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Lezley Brown and members of the chamber board, hospital board members for both the Hopkins County Hospital District and the local CHRISTUS Mother Frances board.
Dr. Richard Graves, local Orthopedic Surgeon, stated that he is beyond excited that the new facility will be built. He recognized his staff and noted that the staff would increase with the new building. In July of this year, Dr. Graves has been in Sulphur Springs five years.
Tira News May 25th, 2018
By Jan Vaughn
Joyce Dodd reports that we’ve had some activity at the Tira free food pantry recently. She shared that we have lots of canned vegetables on hand, but need more canned meat and other non-perishable proteins. Donations for the pantry are always needed and very much appreciated. If you would like to help out, you can contact any of the Tira Council Members, Powell Vickery – Mayor, Joyce Dodd, Tami Joslin, Janie Lewis, Sherry Smiddy, and Yvonne Weir, or let me know. My contact information is always shown at the end of the column.
The North Hopkins Cemetery Association will hold its annual Memorial Day Service at the North Hopkins Cemetery Chapel on Sunday, May 27th, at 11:00 a.m. They would like to “encourage all interested parties to come to honor our veterans and loved ones that have been buried there.” Lunch will be served for a $10.00 donation to help offset the cost of the food. Please bring your card table and lawn chairs. If you can’t attend, you may make a donation to the
North Hopkins Cemetery Association, c/o Charlene Stewart, 128 S. Davis St., Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482. Charlene adds, “All donations are appreciated to help with the upkeep of the building and grounds.”
The regular quarterly meeting of the Tira City Council will be coming up on Tuesday, June 5 th , at 6:00 p.m. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend. You may bring donations for the food pantry to any council meeting.
The annual Aiguier Cemetery Association meeting will be held on Sunday, June 3 rd , at the North Hopkins School Cafeteria. Please note the change in location. A covered dish lunch will be shared at noon, followed by the meeting.
Colbie Weatheread, daughter of Dylon and Brittni Weatheread, celebrated her 1st birthday at their home in the Pleasant Grove area. Colbie is the granddaughter of John and Melissa Weatheread of Tira and Sandy and Steven Bindeman of Sulphur Springs.
Minnie (Hillis) Reagor reports, “Reunion Time again! Hope you will join us, as we gather with kinfolk from near and far… close relatives and extended families! We hope we will see you at the reunion, Saturday & Sunday, June 16th & 17th, 2018, at the Tira Community Center. (Annually, the 3rd full weekend of June.) Any Hillis descendent from any branch is welcome! Our branch descends from Andrew “Jackson” Hillis (1815/17 – 1878) who married 1) Aliza Elizabeth Hawkins, and 2) Mary Ann Shelton, branching out from the Lauderdale County,
Alabama and Giles County and Lawrence County, Tennessee regions… spreading out across various States.” For more information you can visit their Reunion Webpage: https://www.facebook.com/hillisfamilyreunion or e-mail [email protected]. She adds that you can contact her by mail at “2018 Hillis Reunion – 339 Greathouse – Vidor, TX 77662.”
Be sure you have the Tira Homecoming on your calendar. It is held annually on the first Sunday in July, which is the 3 rd this year. There will be a program and Tira Cemetery Association meeting at 11:00 inside the Tira Methodist Church, and then the group will share a pot-luck lunch at the picnic tables on the grounds.
North Hopkins School has begun a band program and had its first concert on Friday, May 18th. The band is made up of 6th and 7th grade students and their director is Monte Ashcraft. It’s exciting to see the students have this additional opportunity to develop their talents.
North Hopkins Seniors will be graduating on Saturday, May 26th, at 3:00 p.m. 8th Grade Graduation is on Friday night, May 25th, at 7:30 p.m. Kindergarten students graduated at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 24th. I hope everyone has a safe and fun summer!
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 903-945-2190 or 903-438-6688 or [email protected].
Proper Summer Lawn Care By Mario Villarino
As many other Hopkins County residents (or living anywhere else for that manner) this time of the year you are spending time partially taking care of the lawn. The lawn, for many is the “pride and joy” of the front house or the backyard, but for many others, it is a constant chore that, like it or not, can cause serious eye sores for your property if not attended to. For some reason or another, the lawn plays a significant role in how your house looks to others.
In my personal experience, this time of the year I spend many afternoons mowing our lawn. Our lawn, like many others, is not just grass. Many different plants cover our lawn, whose differences get covered by the wonderful effect of the lawnmower. Your lawn more than likely also has plants other than grass living in it. If you do not believe me, just let it grow a little. This is really important because the response of the lawn- either a solid crop of grass or a mixture of many plants, will respond to the mowing and the weather differently.
Also, when you are trying to identify issues on your lawn, a composite lawn is very different than a grass only lawn. In my personal opinion, diversity is critical in keeping a green lawn. To me, keeping a green lawn healthy is more important than having a grass only lawn and here is why: many voluntary plants can enhance the health of the soil, also, as heat sets in, other plants can tolerate it better than grass. Clovers and other legumes provide nutrients to the soil after those complete their life.
Having many shaded areas in my front lawn because the presence of mature tree also created a problem for grass to grow. As a general rule, and for the past several years, I do not irrigate my lawn. Whatever grows in it must be able to thrive under our natural conditions. This will not be the same if I had a grass only lawn. As a consequence, and after having all these considerations in mind, mowing is the most important process in lawn maintenance in my house. Adjusting the frequency, and height of the mower deck are extremely important when temperature increase to reduce lawn stress.
Also, maintaining the mower blades sharp is important ( a clean cut of the plant material using a sharp blade causes less damage to the plant). As a general rule, you want to mow at the highest setting to conserve soil moisture, but also must mow low enough to remove flowering parts of the plants growing in your composite lawn. The best way to handle this dichotomy is to watch for rain in the forecast. If I have chances of rain and the temperature is not too hot, I drop the mower deck lower to remove more plant material and mow more frequently. If the chances of rain are low and are really hot days, I raise the mower deck and stretch the mowing frequency.
These processes allow the plants to adjust to the weather condition and maintain a green color. Also, flowering gets reduced under dry hot weather conditions. About 85% of the 3.5 million acres of turfgrass in Texas is irrigated at a cost of about 700 million dollars per year. Irrigation audits recently conducted by Texas A&M University staff on irrigated turfgrass sites show significant waste of water.
According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, changing irrigation practices and adjusting other turf maintenance practices much of this water could be saved. In fact, if we could convince the public that straw-colored turf during mid-summer was acceptable on many sites, we could maintain turfgrass without irrigation. By planting adapted turfgrasses and adjusting turf maintenance programs, acceptable turfgrass can be provided on some sites without irrigation.
For example, bermudagrass can be maintained in parts of Texas without irrigation. Under this condition bermudagrass would provide a complete cover, could be maintained weed-free and would provide a playable surface for sports fields, playgrounds and golf course fairways. However, such sites would be dormant and straw-colored in mid-summer, but would recover following significant rainfall.
For more information on this or any other agricultural topic please contact the Hopkins County Extension Office at 903-885-3443 or email me at [email protected].
Mario Villarino DVM, Ph.D.
Hopkins County Extension Agent for Ag and NR
1200B Houston Street
Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482
903-885-3443
CPR, Kids Camp, and 4-H Project Tour Day By Johanna Hicks
Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED and Basic First Aid Offered
Have you taken CRP and First Aid, but your certification expired? Does your place of employment require this certification? Do you want to receive the training for your own personal benefit? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, I have a solution for you!
A few weeks ago, a colleague from Upshur County contacted me about the possibility of holding a training in East Texas, and now the date, time and location have been set. Below are the details:
What: Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED, Basic First Aid
When: Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Where: Innovative Health Solutions, 501 Pine Tree Road, Longview, TX
Cost: $50
There are two ways to register. Online registration may be done by going to https://www.innovativehealthsolutions.com and click on registration. Scroll down to the event hosted by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Click on the registration link. You may pay online. For directions to the event, a map is shown on the registration link.
If you prefer to register by phone, you may call Marilyn Thompson at 866-282-5477. You will need to bring exact cash or check to the class to pay onsite.
Kids’ Camp Registration Deadline Approaching
Registration information for the 8th annual “Kids’ Camp: Fun, Food, Fitness” has been distributed to Sulphur Springs campuses housing grades 1 thru 4. If your child did not pick up a registration form, there is still time to register, but not much! The camp will be limited to the first 40 youth. Registration must be turned in to the Extension Office on or before May 31. As of this writing, we are half-way full. The camp will include a vast array of fun activities including nutrition and hands/on food preparation, team games, Walk Across Texas, crafts, safety (sun, stranger, weather), simple money management, and gardening. Our final day will be a celebration with water slides, bounce houses, and yummy refreshments. Give-away incentive items, prizes, t-shirts, camp booklet, and more will be available.
The dates of the camp are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, June 11, 13, 15, 18, 2, 22, 25, 27, and 29. Kids’ Camp will take place at the Sulphur Springs Middle School auxiliary gym from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Reminder – registration is due on or before May 31. Our Extension Office is closed on Monday, May 28 in observance of Memorial Day. Call 903-885-3443 if you have questions.
4-H Project Tour Day
Each year, we offer a day of field trips for our 4-H members. All 4-H members are invited to participate. Each stop reinforces a 4-H project. This year’s Tour Day is scheduled for Friday, June 1. Everyone is asked to meet at the Extension Office at 9:30 a.m. for a brief overview of the day and to arrange carpooling. Our first stop will pertain to horticulture and we will travel to a local florist shop to learn how flowers and plants are cared for, simple floral arranging, and distribution of plants and floral arrangements. The second stop will focus on communication and expressive arts. We will travel to our local movie theater for a behind-the-scenes look at the projection and sound rooms. We’ll learn about the light bulbs used in the powerful projectors, how movies are acquired, and more.
At lunch time, we will meet at the ROC for lunch and a brief county 4-H Council meeting. 4-H members wishing to run for an office will be given the opportunity to give a speech, and officers will be elected. After lunch, we will continue the Project Tour Day with a trip to a local embroidery and screen print shop to tie in with the clothing & textiles project, as well as the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) project.
We will return to the extension office at approximately 2:30 p.m. All participants are asked to bring a sack lunch. Bottle water will be provided. Please call the Extension Office at 903-885-3443 to sign up.
Closing Thought
The most wonderful places to be in the world are: in someone’s thoughts, in someone’s prayers, and in someone’s heart – author unknown
Johanna Hicks
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Family & Consumer Sciences
1200-B W. Houston
P.O.Box 518
Sulphur springs, TX 75483
903-885-3443 – phone
903-439-4909 – Fax
[email protected]
Azle Woman Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon; Sentencing Set for June
Victoria Grace Brawley, 26, of Azle pled guilty to three indictments for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon Thursday afternoon in Eighth Judicial District Court. A sentencing hearing will be conducted June 20, 2018 before Judge Eddie Northcutt.
Brawley, who has remained in jail since her arrest on December 18, 2017, when she was arrested for Intoxication Assault following her involvement as a driver in a two vehicle accident that injured three adults and one child. She told a DPS Trooper that she was driving the Crown Vic that crashed into a minivan. The trooper detected the odor of alcoholic beverage coming from her person at the scene of the accident. The trooper also noted her slurred speech and difficulty maintaining her balance. She refused to provide a breath sample and a blood warrant was obtained.
All three adults in the van were transported via helicopter to metroplex hospitals with incapacitating injuries.
According to her defense attorney, Martin Braddy, Brawley has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for her entire life. Her family was supportive as evidenced in the presence of over 10 family members in the courtroom as she pled to the charges.
