Game Day: Lady Cat Volleyball Hosts McKinney North; Tennis on the Road
This Tuesday (August 14) game day includes a home volleyball match with team tennis on the road. The Lady Cats’ volleyball team has their regular season home opener as McKinney North comes to town. The Lady Cats bring a 6-3 record into the match after winning four and losing three in the Garland ISD Tournament last Friday and Saturday. McKinney North has a 3-4 record so far this season. Freshmen and JV action begins at 4:30 p.m. The varsity game is scheduled to get underway at 5:30 p.m. Last year the Lady Cats had to battle to take a 3-1 match in McKinney. Abbi Baier, Madi Vickery, Autumn Tanton and Lexi Whisenhunt had big games for the Lady Cats last year. We will bring you Lady Cats’ volleyball live on KSST Radio beginning at 5:30 p.m. We will also videotape the game for replay at a later date on Channel 18 on Suddenlink Cable.
The Wildcats’ team tennis squad has two road matches scheduled on this Tuesday game day. The Wildcats, 1-4 so far this season, began a match in Hallsville at 8:30 a.m. They are also scheduled to play Jacksonville at 1:30 p.m. The Wildcats won their most recent match defeating John Tyler at the Wildcat Tennis Complex last Thursday, 13-6.
FM 2642 At I-30 Closed; Will Affect Travel to District Football/Volleyball Games
As Wildcat football season begins, local fans will want to take note of the closure of FM 2642 at I-30. The Farm to Market Road would be the exit for Royse City High School and football field. The Wildcats travel to Royse City Friday, September 21st in a District match up.
PARIS – Texas Department of Transportation officials today reminded motorists, pedestrians and other travelers that there is no access across Interstate Highway 30 at FM 2642 in western Hunt County.
FM 2642 across I-30 is closed to all traffic for the remaining duration of the FM 2642 bridge/underpass replacement project, which began in February 2017. The target date for completion of that project is December 2018.
Marked and signed detours will direct motorists and others to alternate access points across I-30, officials said. Please refer to the map below to view the detours. More information about the FM 2642 project is available online.
School Board Approves Grant Funded Purchase of Hot Spots As They Prepare for New School Year
Sulphur Springs School Board made preparations for the start of a new school year Monday night during their regular session.
A grant written by Superintendent Michael Lamb designed to loan students’ equipment necessary to access digital technology when they are away from school was approved. Starting with the high school, 190 hot spots will be available for check out through the high school library. Five hot spots will be available for team travel buses to assist with homework while on trips. The hot spots will be available to students who do not have access to internet service in their homes. Kajeet, the wireless internet, will filter information that can be accessed and monitoring of what is downloaded will be available to the school. The hot spots will be available for students sometime in the next two months.
In other action items, the board approved a revised Child Nutrition Meal Payments and charge policy.
Changes were made to the Concussion Oversight Team. Brad Abell is being removed from the team and Cassie Ervin and Marcos Garza were added. Dr. I. L. Balkcom IV also serves on the Oversight Team.
The board approved Ordinance 2-18 levying an annual ad velorem tax of $1.35048 ($1.04 Maintenance and Operation and $0.31048 for Interest and Sinking), per $100 cash valuation for 2018.
An application for Value Limitation Agreement from Solemio, LLC will be considered by the board. Superintendent Lamb was authorized to review the application for completeness and submit the Application to the Comptroller of Public Accounts and to approve any request for extension of the deadline for Board action beyond the 150-day Board review period, as may be required. They also retained attorneys/consultants to assist the district in review and processing of the Application of Value Limitation Agreement from Solemio, LLC pursuant to Chapter 313 of the Texas Property Tax Code.
Changes to the Middle School and High School handbook 2018-2019 were presented. There are few changes to the handbook.
Blackwood Quartet Appearance at Reilly Springs Community Center on August 18, 2018
During Memphis’ Elvis Week, the Blackwood Quartet of Memphis, Tennessee is on tour in Texas. The world-famous group will be appearing in Hopkins County on Saturday August 18, 2018. Elvis Presley and the Blackwood family history goes back a long way to the early Memphis gospel music scene, before Elvis became the King of Rock and Roll. As a youth attending gospel singings at the Ellis Auditorium, Elvis met his idols the Blackwoods, J.D. Sumner and others. He even auditioned to become a Blackwood member. Their professional connections and personal friendships are interwoven into Southern Gospel Music history. Today’s third-generation Blackwood Quartet will present their “Gospel Side of Elvis” concert to local audiences at the Reilly Springs Community Center on August 18 at 6pm. Tickets are available at Good News Christian Bookstore inside the VF Outlet Mall in Sulphur Springs, Texas. Reilly Springs native Bill Owens will open the concert at 6pm, followed by Buddy and Ina Gore of Psalms 100, and the Blackwood Quartet will come onstage at 7pm.
Once owners of a tour bus company, Buddy and Ina hosted numerous trips to the National Quartet Conventions, Elvis Week and Memphis tours and other gospel-based trips and are familiar with the industry. This summer at the Gospel Music Fan Fair in Somerset, Kentucky, the pair received the Duo of the Year Award, one of many acquired during their 36-year music ministry. The close community that Southern Gospel Music enjoys was discussed in a KSST Good Morning Show interview with Enola Gay.
In 1936, The Blackwood Brothers Quartet consisted of Roy, Doyle and James Blackwood, and James’ son R.W. Within 20 years, and with the advent of television, the group had become so popular that they purchased a single engine plane to meet their engagements. For the next couple of years, R.W. piloted the singers and pianist across the nation. In June 1954, departing a large gospel event in Clanton, Alabama, the plane crashed and burned on a dirt runway, killing half the quartet. It was a loss that touched the lives of millions of gospel lovers. Following a season of grief as well as re-organization, the family went forward with their ministry, adding Cecil Blackwood as baritone and J.D. Sumner as bass singer. Since 2012, third-generation Mark Blackwood heads up the Blackwood Quartet which tours all over the world, while his uncle Ron heads up the Blackwood Singers, part of the Branson gospel community.
According to some, the fatal crash suffered during that early major gathering resulted in unprecedented unity within the family of gospel singers in the U.S. and played a part in the ongoing history of Southern Gospel Music. In 1957, Sumner and the Blackwoods formed the National Quartet Convention, which today has grown to a mega-size annual event headquartered at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and features concerts, talent showcases, recording sessions, fan events and non-stop singing.
SSISD Board Approves Personnel Changes
During their Monday, August 14, 2018 regular session, Sulphur Springs School Board approved personnel changes:
Retirement
Wanda Whitmore Custodian Administration Building
Resignations
Jim Bayuk Chief of Police Dist-wide
Audra Latimer Science Teacher High School
Zearlene Roberts Social Studies Teacher High School
David Westberry Math Teacher High School
Emily Westberry English Teacher High School
New Personnel
Cary Barnett Police Officer Austin Acad. Center
Leslie McDowell Head Start Aide Douglass ECLC
Adrienne Lilley Library Aide Bowie Primary
Nicholas Floyd Police Officer Lamar Primary
Stephanie Hughes Campus Secretary SS Elementary
Karen Jasmer SpEd Grade 4 Teacher SS Elementary
Eileen Lira Title I Aide SS Elementary
Chanta Givens SpEd Aide Middle School
Rachael Haeberlen SpEd Aide Middle School
Chuck King Social Studies Teacher High School
Tyler Lindsey Math Teacher/Coach High School
Daymon Nash SpEd Aide High School
KayLee Wood Science Teacher High School
Personnel Change New position/campus Former position/campus
Chandler Macek KG ELAR Teacher/Bowie Library Aide/Bowie
Glynda Chester Chief of Police/Dist-wide Police Officer/High School
SCU Investigation Results in Arrest of Local Woman
Special Crimes Unit began an investigation into the possession and sale of methamphetamine by Monica Renee Millan, 24, of Sulphur Springs. During the investigation, SCU observed Millan in the 1300 block of South League Street and made contact to arrest based on two warrants. During the arrest, she produced a clear plastic bag containing a crystal like substance believed to be methamphetamine. The substance weighed 5.47 grams including the packaging.
Millan is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 more than 4-grams but less than 200-grams with intent to distribute, a felony 2. She is also held on warrants for Violation of Probation Forgery of Financial Instrument and Failure to Maintain Financial Responsibility.
Winnsboro Police Department Report August 6-12, 2018
Winnsboro Police made two arrests, investigated one minor injury accident, responded to 173 calls for service, issued 44 citations and wrote 44 warnings during the report period August 6-12, 2018.
John Spencer, 36, of Portland, Oregon, was arrested August 6th on multiple Winnsboro Municipal Court Warrants.
John Lopez, 21, of Winnsboro, was arrested August 6th on a Nolan County Warrant.
A vehicle pedestrian accident August 9th at the corner of Main and Broadway resulted in minor injuries reported.
Wildcat Varsity Football Opens Practice Monday Afternoon
The Wildcats’ varsity football team opens practice for this season Monday afternoon (August 13) at the Multipurpose Building. Wildcats Football Coach Greg Owens said the initial workout would get started at around 5 p.m. He said he was still pondering whether to have practice indoors or out.
The Wildcats will be pointing toward their first and only scrimmage at home against Liberty-Eylau on August 23 at Gerald Prim Stadium. Since the Wildcats again had spring workouts, they had to report one week later than usual plus they are allowed only the one scrimmage. It’s the third season the Wildcats have had spring workouts in exchange for the later start and loss of a scrimmage.
The Wildcats get underway Monday with a new Defensive Coordinator. Alex Guerra came to the Wildcats from Nevada Community to replace Triston Abron, who is now the head football coach at Paul Pewitt. Wildcats freshmen were allowed a week of practice last week by the UIL since the Wildcats incoming sophomores through seniors had spring workouts.
The Wildcats are coming off a 5-6 season in 2017. They made the playoffs and had their season end with a bi-district loss to Lovejoy at Gerald Prim Stadium.
Gilbert Sentenced to 55 Years in Prison for Murder of Pryor
Monday at noon, 17-year old Gavin Heath Gilbert was sentenced to 55 years in prison for the murder of 18-year old Tyrese Pryor. No fine was assessed. The range of punishment for first degree murder is 5 years to life. The Hopkins County Jury had found Gilbert guilty Friday morning of last week and heard closing arguments in the sentencing phase this Monday morning.
Defense Attorney Frank Long argued age and an act of passion in the sentencing portion of the trial. Under Texas Law, an act of passion may be argued in sentencing but not in the guilt or innocence phase of the trial.
Gilbert will be eligible for parole in 27.5 years. He will be 44-years old when eligible.
Assistant District Attorney Clay Harrison argued that Gilbert’s age was not a factor. The State had sought a life sentence.
Gilbert will be eligible for parole in 27.5 years. He will be 44-years old when eligible.
A dispute over a buy of a small amount of marijuana led to the shooting death of Pryor and Felony 1 murder charges. Four counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon were also filed against Gilbert. Gilbert was tried only on the murder charge in Eighth Judicial District Court.
