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PJC Makes Changes to Nursing Program; LVN, ADN Applications Being Accepted

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PJC Makes Changes to Nursing Program; LVN, ADN Applications Being Accepted

After a site visit and review by nursing consultants, Paris Junior College is making several changes to the Licensed Vocational Nursing (LVN) and Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) programs.

“Last month we had consultants review the nursing programs and we’re beginning the implementation of some of the recommendations now,” said PJC President Dr. Pam Anglin. “It’s important that we move quickly on that. The first big change is moving our start date for the ADN program from a summer to a fall start.”

The vocational nursing program will accept late applications for the LVN program that starts with the Summer I semester on June 5. Applications may be obtained now through April 7 by calling 903-782-0734, and appointments to submit applications scheduled April 17-20 with the Director of Nursing.

Additional review by the consultants also means that students who were not initially admitted to the program earlier this year should check again to see if they now meet admission criteria.

Applications for the ADN program may be picked up through May 15 at the Health Occupations Office in the Bobby R. Walters Workforce Training Center.

A fall start allows ADN students to access financial aid that is not available until July. Also, students completing the LVN program will have time to take their licensure tests, as well as a break, before advancing to the more rigorous ADN program. That program will now finish up the following August and not as many nursing programs in Texas end during that month, so it scheduling RN licensing tests should be easier for students.

“We’re very proud of our program,” said Director of Nursing Stephanie Parker. “Both our LVN and ADN students experience hands-on clinicals two days a week at hospitals in Paris, Greenville and Sulphur Springs. They have instructors at the patient’s bedside helping them. Few programs in the state offer this much time with patients, and our students emerge from the program well-prepared to get to work.”

Bears Top Lions Tuesday

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Bears Top Lions Tuesday

The Sulphur Bluff Bears topped the Saltillo Lions, 16-6 in Saltillo Tuesday. The Bears had an 8 runs first inning. They added 1 in the second, 2 in the fourth and 5 more in the fifth. Saltillo rallied with six runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 16-6 final.

Jaden Goldsmith got the pitching win for Sulphur Bluff. For the Bears on offense, Brennon Seymore was hit by a pitch 3 times and he walked once and had an RBI. Ky Rochelle was hit by a pitch, had a walk and an RBI. Goldsmith was 2 for 3 with a walk. Joe Forshee walked three times and had an RBI. Jacob Watts was 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI. Trayton South was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 RBI’s. Hunter Wallis was 1 for 4 with 3 RBI’s. Ryan Vance was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Dylan Flowers was 1 for 2 with an RBI. Ricky Hatfield was 1 for 3 with an RBI.

Eight Indicted for Injury to a Child With Intent Bodily Injury; March Grand Jury Indictments

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Eight Indicted for Injury to a Child With Intent Bodily Injury; March Grand Jury Indictments

Injury Child/Elderly/Disable With Intent Bodily Injury led the list of indictments handed down by a Hopkins County Grand Jury Tuesday afternoon, March 29, 2017. A total of 39 indictments for various charges were handed down. Eight of the 39 were for Injury to a Child. Not all individuals indicted have been arrested. Those names are not published here.

Indicted for Injury to a Child with Intent Bodily Injury were:

  • Laci Marie Reichel, 28 of Sulphur Springs. Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputies were called to a disturbance involving a juvenile in the 100 block of Sandy Hill Road. There the investigating deputy found a juvenile with visible marks on the back of his neck. The deputy was directed across the road to the neighbor’s house where contact was made with the alleged suspect. During the interview with the suspect, the deputy noted a strong odor of alcoholic beverage emitting from the body of the suspect as the suspect admitted grabbing the juvenile from the back and pulling him toward her during the altercation. During the arrest of the suspect, the deputy noted a strong smell of marijuana on the suspect. The suspect’s children were also transported to Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office and CPS was notified.
  • Kimberly Lynn Finch (two counts) and Douglas Wayne Gaffney (two counts). Finch, 36, and Gaffney, 51, who live on County Road 3502 in Hopkins County were arrested by the Special Crimes Unit on warrants for two charges each for Injury Child with Intend. The couple is charged with injury to a child exposing them to drugs being used in the home.
  • Destiny Michelle Parker and John Ocie Peck. The Special Crimes Unit assisted Child Protective Services in the arrest of Parker, 25, and Peck, 39, both of Yantis. The pair was arrested following the birth of a child that tested positive for methamphetamine. The child was removed by CPS at birth for the safety of the child. The Special Crimes Unit and CPS had presented evidence to the District Attorney’s office, which granted felony warrants. Both Parker and Peck signed acknowledgements stating they did in fact use meth.
  • Courtney Leigh Plunkett. Special Crimes Unit investigators assisted CPS agents with an investigation involving Plunkett, 24 of Sulphur Springs and her 8-month old child that tested positive for methamphetamine. The child’s meth levels tested higher than Plunkett’s. Plunkett was arrested at at her residence on CR 2316.

Indicted for Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon was Kellen Warren Tramel.

Russel Kline Frazar was Indicted for Assault Family/House Member Impede Breath/Circulation . Sulphur Springs Police responded to a welfare concern on Atkins Street. There the officer made contact with a female who said her husband assaulted her. Injuries were evident to the officer. While interviewing the victim, her husband returned while Sgt. Matt Glenn was speaking with victim and he was agitated. Fearing another assault could occur if the parties were not separated, Frazar, 25, was arrested and charged with Assault Family Violence Impeding Breathing/ Circulation.

Indicted for Deadly Conduct Discharge Firearm was Jeremy Blake Mosley. He was also indicted for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon. Gunshots fired in the vicinity of Douglas Intermediate School resulted in a soft lockdown of the school and Sulphur Springs Police and Hopkins County Sheriff’s Deputies seeking the individual who fired the weapon. Police responded to a call that identified the individual as a male “…wearing a white T-shirt and black beanie running down Putman Street.” SSPD Sgt. Matt Glenn found the man on Jennings Street. In his possession were ammunition and a magazine to a firearm. The handgun was later found lying on the ground in close proximity to where the man was detained. A witness told Sgt. Glenn that the man had discharged several rounds in the direction of houses as well as people. Mosely, 31, a homeless man in Sulphur Springs was arrested for Deadly Conduct and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon.

Christopher Huddleston was indicted for Evading Arrest Detention with Previous Conviction. Sulphur Springs Police responded to a call in reference to a theft at the Dollar General store on South Broadway Thursday. There they found Huddleston, 38 of Sulphur Springs in possession of the stolen property. As officers sought to make the arrest, he ran from officers. They quickly caught him. Huddleston is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Evading Arrest Detention with Previous Conviction and his being held for Violation of Parole. He is held on a $10,000 fine for evading arrest and without bail on the state parole violation. Almost a month to the day, Huddleston had attempted to evade arrest. While on patrol, a Sulphur Springs Police officer noted a man running across the street. He was running from the manager of a convenience store located on League Street. The store manager was stating he had just been robbed. The officer exited his vehicle and gave chase. The man evaded officers called to the scene but was soon found sitting near the railroad track drinking a Coors Beer that he had taken from the store. What was at first described to officers as an armed robbery turned out to be shoplifting. However, a records check on the man showed a prior conviction for evading arrest. That bumped everything up to a State Jail Felony.

Robert Earl Hawkins, Jr. was indicted for Evading Arrest Detention with Vehicle With Previous Conviction. Hawkins, 32, of Sulphur Springs is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Evading Arrest Detention with Vehicle with Previous Conviction. Sulphur Springs Police received a call from a complainant who said a maroon pickup was following the complainant. Officers attempted to catch up with the pickup after they activated emergency lights. Hawkins fled the scene and failed to yield to an emergency vehicle while traveling at a high rate of speed. The pickup wrecked out, according to police, in the 100 block of MLK Blvd.

Tara Diann Slough was indicted for Hinder Apprehension or Prosecution of a Known Felon. In a pickup pulling a trailer with John Samuel Maxwell, 35 of Paris, was Slough, 40 of Mt Vernon, and a juvenile. As the Hopkins County Deputy stopped the vehicle, Maxwell exited and began working with the trailer. The Deputy made him get back in the truck, which he did for a brief time. Maxwell fled on foot and that resulted in an almost 24-hour hunt for him However, Slough was also questioned by a deputy. The name she gave the deputy was not her own name. She had been involved with Maxwell in evading arrest in other instances prior to Tuesday, February 7th. She is charged with Hinder Apprehension or Prosecution Known Felon. Slough and Maxwell had been married and has had an on-again, off-again relationship with him. She moved from Paris to Mt Vernon so that she could regain custody of her child. The child is now in custody of Child Protective Services.

Charles Hershel Compton was indicted for Money Laundering more than $2,00 but less than $30,000. Cumby Police stopped a 2017 Lexus RX330 for doing 88 mph in a 75 mph zone at the 110 mile marker on I-30. After a roadside investigation, a positive alert was made on the vehicle using a K-9. A probable cause search resulted in two weapons and $12,300 in cash found in the vehicle and $1700 carried by the driver.

Indicted for Theft of Property more than $2,500 but less than $30,000 was Deven Lee Brown.

Juanita Bolyer Bell was indicted for Theft of Property more than $2,5000, two or more Previous Convictions. After she passed all points of sale with $50 in property not paid for, Bell, 55, of Winnsboro was detained by the retailer’s store security. For her, she has been convicted of at least two other thefts of property charges.

Indicted individually for Driving While Intoxicated 3rd or More were Ronald Wayne McCoy and James Arthur Baxley.

Joshua Aaron Blaylock was indicted for Tamper/Fabricate Physical Evidence with Intent to Impair. Constant requests by a Hopkins County Deputy resulted in Blaylock, 24, of Sulphur Springs eventually giving up what he had in his hand and had attempted to conceal from the officer. Blaylock was stopped by the deputy at the corner of Craig and Camp Streets. There the deputy observed him attempting to hide something in his hand. He also attempted to place the concealed matter in a Styrofoam cup. Finally he complied. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine.

Kaitlynn Marie Hurst was indicted for Tamper/Fabricate Physical Evidence with Intent to Impair and indicted for Possession Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 less than 1-gram. Hurst, 19 of Garland, was a passenger in a 2000 F-150 pickup stopped for a traffic violation by a Hopkins County deputy. During the stop the deputy noted a syringe in plain view on the seat under Hurst. The deputy asked Hurst to exit the vehicle. When she did, he noted two syringes in the seat. That wouldn’t be all the deputy would observe. Hurst was placed in the patrol unit for arrest. At the jail, the deputy noted a crystal like substance scattered on the back seat of his unit. The substance tested positive for methamphetamine. In reviewing the video taken from the patrol unit, the deputy noted Hurst fidgeting and trying to retrieve an object from her person. During questioning, Hurst admitted to having loose meth in her pocket and trying to shake it out but did not realize that it would be clearly evident in the backseat.

Individually indicted for Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 less than 1-gram were:

  • Michael Wayne Roberts, 66, of Winnsboro was in the Dollar General on Main Street when someone thought him a suspicious person. The sheriff’s deputy arrived and located Roberts at the rear of his vehicle. A pat down search led to the discovery of an eyeglass container that contained a syringe and a clear plastic baggie with a white crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine.
  • Brady James Weaver

Rangers Opening Day Ticket Giveaway

Posted by on 12:00 pm in Featured, Headlines, Lifestyle, News, Sports | Comments Off on Rangers Opening Day Ticket Giveaway

Rangers Opening Day Ticket Giveaway

Want a pair of tickets to the Texas Rangers Opening Day Game on April 3rd, 2017?

Like this post, and like KSST on Facebook to enter.

Listen to Afternoon Drive 4 – 6 PM Wednesday March 29th, 2017 to hear the winners.

KSST is proud to bring you Ranger Baseball all season long.

Passes can be picked up at the KSST Studios during business hours.

City Budget Process Begins; Water, Sewer Utility Lines a Concern

Posted by on 11:33 am in Headlines, News, Sulphur Springs News | Comments Off on City Budget Process Begins; Water, Sewer Utility Lines a Concern

City Budget Process Begins; Water, Sewer Utility Lines a Concern

Miles to go before complete was the theme for the City of Sulphur Springs Utilities Department during conversation with the city council Tuesday evening as the council begins the budget process for next year. The Utilities Department was just one of the city departments to visit with the council.

For the council, most of the time spent Tuesday was with the Utilities Department. In a process of replacement and improvement that began twenty years ago, about 18 miles of sewer and 18 miles of water lines have been replaced, according to City Manager Marc Maxwell. Maxwell said for both utilities, about 100 miles of replacement remains for each. He said much of the pipe for the two utilities is nearing the 50 year age limit. If the pace of replacement does not increase in the next 10-15 years, the age of the pipes will hit the city hard.

To take up water and sewer lines will destroy streets, according to Maxwell. However, with street improvements also on the agenda for the city, the replace of lines will, in many instances, go hand and hand with the improvements made. He noted the improvements being made currently on Locust Street and the recently completed Bill Bradford Road as examples of a total rework of utilities and street.

How to pay for the improvements is also a question facing the council. At this time the State of Texas does not remit to cities and counties any portion of gas taxes collected. With the legislature seeking to restrict the ability of cities and counties to levy additional taxes, Maxwell said he is seeking to join with other cities and counties in seeking a portion of the tax. That money could be used in developing utility improvements. He also noted that increases in water and sewer fees could be an answer. One of the unique ideas presented is to provide utility improvement districts. A utility improvement district would consist of neighborhoods or segments of the city willing to split the cost of improvements. That willingness could move the district up the list of areas to be improved.

Maxwell said no decisions for the Utilities Department were made by the council but the initial steps are being taken in the planning process.

Winnsboro Police Department Report March 20-26, 2017

Posted by on 10:54 am in Headlines, News, Winnsboro News | Comments Off on Winnsboro Police Department Report March 20-26, 2017

Winnsboro Police Department Report March 20-26, 2017

Winnsboro Police made two arrests, responded to 164 calls for service and issued 59 citations and 55 warnings during the reporting period, March 20-26, 2017. There were no accidents reported inside the city.

Steven Lancaster, 51, of Pickton was arrested on March 20th on a City of Winnsboro Municipal warrant.

Kimberly McGowen, 32, of Pittsburg was arrested March 26th on a Hopkins County warrant.

Lady Trojans Rock Roxtono 17-1

Posted by on 10:49 am in Headlines, News, Sports | Comments Off on Lady Trojans Rock Roxtono 17-1

Lady Trojans Rock Roxtono 17-1

Seniors Laura Rector and Alysse Bullock congratulate Junior Martina Gonzalez on her grand slam.

The Cumby Lady Trojans rolled over Roxton 17 to 1 in 2 1/2 innings to improve to 4-4 in district play. The winning pitcher was Paige Seely with one walk and one strikeout. Carly Talley came in relief with one walk and two strikeouts.

Team talk after the win.

Martina Gonzalez and Sydney Spillers led the team with four RBI a piece. Gonzalez smashed a line drive to left centerfield with the bases loaded for an in the park grand slam home run.  Spillers connected with a pitch two batters later and also got an in the park homer. Alyssa Morgan had an RBI going 2-2 with 2 singles. Bailey Busby got a single, while both Laura Rector and Paige Seely got a single and 2 RBI each. Alysse Bullock had three walks on the night and Harley McLarry had a 2 RBI double.

Laura Rector makes an unassisted out at 1st.

The Lady Trojans will be in Bland on Friday at 4:30.

DWI 3rd or More Charged Following Accident

Posted by on 9:49 am in Headlines, Hopkins County News, News | Comments Off on DWI 3rd or More Charged Following Accident

DWI 3rd or More Charged Following Accident

A Hopkins County Deputy was called to an accident on FM 69N at 5:53 p.m. Tuesday. The caller told dispatch that a 1998 Buick Lasabre ran off the road and struck a culvert. When the officer arrived, he found James Warren Hiller, Sr., 63, of Dike in the driver’s seat. A strong odor of alcoholic beverage was on his person. Hiller could not stand on his own, had slurred speech, and was not able to complete a field sobriety test. By his actions, he refused a breath specimen. A warrant for a blood draw was ordered.

Hiller is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Driving While Intoxicated 3rd or More and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

Meth in Sock

Posted by on 9:40 am in Headlines, News, Sulphur Springs News | Comments Off on Meth in Sock

Meth in Sock

Responding to a call at the Dollar Store on Main Street at 9:17 a.m. Tuesday, the Sulphur Springs Police Officer was told that a cell phone and charger had been taken from the store without purchase.

Kerry Renaldore Duffey, Jr. 25, of Sulphur Springs was located in the 100 block of South Moore St. a few minutes later. He had in his possession the stolen articles. He was taken to Hopkins County Jail where, in the sally port, he admitted to having something in his sock. A paper containing a white crystal substance believed to be methamphetamine was found in the sock.

Duffey is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Theft of Property under $100 with previous conviction and Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1, less than 1-gram.

Hopkins Trustee Farm Report for March

Posted by on 9:31 am in Headlines, Hopkins County News, News | Comments Off on Hopkins Trustee Farm Report for March

Hopkins Trustee Farm Report for March

Hopkins County Trustee Farm reports a profitable month in work and produce. Sheriff Lewis Tatum opened the farm in a cost saving move for county taxpayers. The farm has reduced the cost of each meal produced for inmates at Hopkins County Jail. The first report is for the month of March. Sheriff Tatum states the Trustee Farm report will be given once each week following this initial report.

During the month of March, six hogs, six cows, and 650 chickens were processed. All the meat was processed by trustees and correction officer, according to the sheriff.

They also gathered between 40 and 70 eggs daily and planted two gardens. One garden is 130 yards by 80 yards. The second garden is 100 yards by 80 yards. In those gardens they have planted 180 tomato plants, 40 pepper plants, 17 rows of green beans, 20 rows of corn, three and one half rows of potatoes, 1,800 onion plants, and a quarter of an acre of squash.