Asphalt Scam Returns to Hopkins County Area
Every few years driveway asphalt scam artists pass through the area. Their story doesn’t change nor do the victims. Stating they have asphalt left from a previous job just down the road, they promise to apply the remaining asphalt on the senior adult victim’s driveway at a greatly reduced price. However, as the job is completed, the scammers will tell the victim that they had to use more asphalt than they thought and the charge for the work is far larger than first quoted.
When the victim refuses to pay, the scammers become, as Sheriff Lewis Tatum told KSST, “…rather difficult to deal with…” Tatum said that should anyone be approached regarding work on a driveway and the resident did not call the company, refuse the offer and call the Sheriff’s office at 903-439-4040. The Sheriff also said that if the resident could get a description of the vehicle and license plate number of the one making the offer that would also be a great help.
The most recent attempts to carry out this scam occurred along FM 71 in northern Hopkins County.
EDC Announces Groundbreaking for Armorock Polymer Concrete
Hopkins County Economic Development Corporation has announced a ground breaking for Armorock Polymer Concrete at their construction site, 207 Heritage Court in Sulphur Springs. The event is set for February 2, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.
The Nevada based company will make Sulphur Springs the Texas hub for their product which will be primarily manhole covers for municipalities. Drawing from 56 years of experience, the manufacturing location will build a rigid, structural polymer concrete structure that meets the structural and corrosion needs required by the engineering community as well as the financial life cycle required by municipalities.
The product will have no cement thus making issues of damage and cracking no longer an issue. The product is corrosion resistant and weighs less enabling an easier installation.
Basketball Coaches Comment On Recent Games
Cipoletta on Wildcats Win
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta commented on his team’s 63-51 win at home against Hallsville Friday night on KSST Radio and Channel 18 TV’s Saturday Morning Coaches Show. The Wildcats improved to 5-1 in district play after the first half of play. They also won their 20th win as they are 20-5. The Wildcats build a 20 point lead, 46-26 after three quarters. Hallsville made a run but were never able to get within 10 points of the Wildcats. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats did a good job breaking the Hallsville press early. He said they got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter and made some turnovers. Coach Cipoletta said he was proud of the team’s defense against the Bobcats. He said Hallsville had several very good shooters and he added they can get hot in a hurry. Coach Cipoletta was also proud to have four of his scorers in double figures: Keaston Willis had 18, Bryson Lynn 15, Victor Iwuakor with 13 and Michael Jefferson with 10. Coach Cipoletta said the Wildcats are at their best when scoring is spread around and everyone gets involved on offense. He said it makes the team harder to guard. Coach Cipoletta said the team is in the top5% in the nation in assists per game. That fits right in with the team motto of Team Over Everything. The Wildcats open the second half of district play hosting Pine Tree Tuesday. The Wildcats won at Pine by 4 points in December. Coach Cipoletta said Dane Rutherford, who he calls a glue guy for the team, took a charge in the fourth quarter and then made a tip in on a missed shot at the other end to impact the outcome. Coach Cipoletta also praised Dedric Godbolt for his defensive play and his passes that lead to baskets. Coach Cipoletta also said senior Ke’Ontae Dunn was good at doing a lot of the dirty work that not all fans notice.
Chapman on Lady Cats Victory
Lady Cats Basketball Coach Jeff Chapman was comparing notes with Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta on their Hallsville games before KSST Radio and Channel 18 TV’s Saturday Morning’s Coaches Show. They agreed that the games were very similar. The Lady Cats built a lead through three quarters to 21 points (The Wildcats led by 20), before a Hallsville rally in the fourth quarter cut the Lady Cats final margin to 13, 59-46. The Wildcats won by 12, 63-51). The Lady Cats stay unbeaten in district play at 8-0. They are 22-3 for the season including 15 straight wins. Coach Chapman said the Lady Cats had a good start against Hallsville on the road. The Lady Bobcats sprang a new 1-2-1-1 trapping defense that the Lady Cats handled fairly well. Tori Moore hit a pair of three pointers. Post players Kaylee Jefferson and Autumn Tanton had 14 points apiece. Coach Chapman was pleased that his players did not play down to Hallsville’s level. The Lady Bobcats are struggling in district at 2-6. Coach Chapman said after the Lady Cats build their 21 point lead after three quarters, they went through a lull or a slump as Hallsville rallied. The lead never went under 10 points. (Same for the Wildcats). The Lady Cats hit 53% from the field including 3 of 9 from 3 point range. They were just 8 of 20 from the free point line and they had 21 turnovers. The Lady Cats travel to Pine Tree Tuesday night. The Lady Cats won here against Pine Tree in December 52-35. Lady Pirates point guard Marissa Gary scored 23 of Pine Tree’s 35 points.
Lady Cats Soccer Opens District Play Friday at Home
The Lady Cats’ soccer team ended up with a tie and two losses against three big, tough opponents in the Longview Showcase this past Thursday through Saturday. The Lady Cats lost 8-2 to The Woodlands Thursday, lost 6-1 to Denton Ryan Friday and then tied Montgomery, 1-1 Saturday.
Lady Cats Soccer Coach Jesus DeLeon said he knew the large schools would be difficult opponents that would challenge the Lady Cats. He said the opponents would help the Lady Cats against playoff teams later on. Possible bi-district foes include Highland Park, Mesquite Poteet and Wylie East. Coach DeLeon said his team learned lessons against teams with better speed, quicker transition and who made less mistakes.
Coach DeLeon pronounced many of his team’s mistakes and given up goals as fixable. Among the bright moments, Coach DeLeon said a 14-year old ninth grader, Sophie Young, was able to score two goals against The Woodlands. He said going forward if his team eliminates mistakes, with some positive moments, against teams more on our level, the Lady Cats should be just fine. Against Montgomery, goalkeeper Abbi Hale had a rare bad moment allowing a goal. Coach DeLeon said she had made an incredible number of great saves during the showcase. The Lady Cats battled back to tie. Later there was a 30 minute delay due to lightning. Coach DeLeon said both teams seemed to be groggy in the games final 16 minutes and a 1-1 tie was the result.
The Lady Cats, now 5-3-2 for the season, open district play Friday as they’ll play Pine Tree at home. The game will be at the SSHS Track Soccer Field. Coach DeLeon has confidence in his experienced team. He said they have played these district teams for years with success.
County Road Concern Expressed During Commissioners’ Court Public Forum
During Hopkins County Commissioners’ Court Public Form, a resident of Precinct 2 asked the court to put in writing that repairs will be made to a segment of roadway she uses for travel from home to other areas in the county. Commissioner Precinct 2, Mike O’Dell told the resident that he does plan to repair her road before the end of his term as Commissioner. O’Dell has two more years.
He noted that the roadway in question is in the floodplain and FEMA will not fund that segment of roadway. He stated that he has repaired the area before but that it washes out with every flooding rain. He stated that he cannot just redo the oil but that it will take a rework. Until he has funds and time, he will continue to place gravel on the roadway and replace it as it washes out. He also offered to assist her in travel when she cannot go in and out at the location.
In other action, the court approved legal software that will be used by district and county courts. They also made appointments to the civic center board.
National School Choice Week Adds to Texas Public Schools Concerns; SSISD’s Lamb Says Ton of Good Choices Locally
Stating Monday, this week represents the largest series of education-related events in Texas history, according to Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week, who said Governor Gregg Abbott’s proclamation to observe the week in Texas will bring Texas families alongside teachers, community leaders, and elected officials to celebrate opportunity in education. The week of activities comes at a time when public schools and some legislators in Texas are decrying the new A-F grading system which they say is a precursor to voucher systems and the cutback of state funds to public schools.
The School Choice Week, January 22-28, will see 1,593 events planned in Texas this week to raise awareness regarding K-12 school choices. There are 21,392 events nationwide. Events in Texas include activities in Collin, Lynn Shackelford, Medina, and Terrell Counties. Communities in Texas participating with events and proclamations include New Boston, Honey Grove, Hillsboro, Combine, Ferris, Irving, hackberry, Hamlin, Italy, Sachse, Nacogdoches, and others.
The events are independently planned and independently funded. They will include information sessions, open houses at schools, policy discussions, movie screenings, and rallies. A large rally for school choice is set for January 24, 10 a.m. on the south steps of the State Capitol building.
Organizers say the event will provide families in Texas with opportunities to research and evaluate the k-12 school choices available for children in advance of the 2017-18 school year. Options of choice include: traditional public schools, public charter schools, magnet schools, private schools, online learning, and homeschooling.
Michael Lamb, Superintendent of Sulphur Springs Schools told KSST News that he sees the event as an acknowledgement that in Texas there are good choices for students. He noted three private schools in Sulphur Springs. Two of the private schools are K-5 and one is K-12. He states this gives students in our area four good choices as they seek to access good schools. He says school choice should be celebrated. He also noted that every school in county, except Sulphur Springs, is an open enrollment school. Thus, throughout the county there are a ton of good choices, according to Lamb.
In early voting on a ksstradio.com poll, 31% of votes cast give Sulphur Springs public schools and A, 17% give them a C and 17% give a D. B’s came in at 15% and F’s come in at 13%. An additional 8% said the letters do not fully express their feelings toward SSISD schools.
State Representative District 2, Dan Flynn said he is concerned for Texas public schools as the rating system in Texas changes. He stated that several good schools in his district will receive multiple D-F letter grades which he says are inaccurate. Flynn stated he is committed to replacing the scoring system with a system that more accurately represents the state of Texas schools and school districts, while still holding them accountable for performance. In the past, he has noted the current move is related to attempts to institute a voucher system in Texas.
Traffic Stop Recovers Stolen Firearm
A traffic stop at the corner of Davis and Robertson Streets in Sulphur Springs resulted in the arrest of a Carrollton man for DWI and for Theft of a Firearm.
Corey Bernard Reynolds, 28, was driving a 2004 Cadillac when stopped. The Hopkins County Deputy detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from Reynolds. A field sobriety test was conducted and Reynolds failed. During an inventory of the vehicle a firearm was found near the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The weapon was found to be reported stolen through the Bonham Police Department.
Reynolds is in Hopkins County jail on a total of $11,000 in bonds.
How should Texas teach students to interact with police?
A minister, activist, lawyer and police officer walk into a high school classroom…
Texas’ top criminal justice lawmakers are considering sending community leaders into public schools to teach ninth graders how to interact with police. They tout the proposal as a way to increase public safety, but critics question whether such instruction would be effective.
Last year, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, introduced legislation that would teach ninth graders about the rights, responsibilities and “proper behavior” of civilians and law enforcement when the two interact.
“You should not escalate things. If you have a disagreement with the officer, go to Internal Affairs. How many people know how to do that?” said Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. “If people understand where the other parties are coming from — I think that students ought to learn that officers are scared too.”
The legislation follows years of deadly encounters between law enforcement and civilians nationwide — including Sandra Bland, an Illinois woman arrested in Waller County after a traffic stop whose videotaped argument with an officer became national news after she was found hanged to death in her jail cell three days later.
This kind of instruction is not the state’s business, said Margaret Haule, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Austin chapter.
“The State Board of Education needs to focus on education, not police encounters,” she said. “That’s already covered in driver’s ed.”
Whitmire is working with Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who will carry the bill in the Texas House, and Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, who said he wants students to attend the lessons as a condition of graduating and to include similar material in the state driver’s exam.
Coleman wants any lessons to contain some American history, including how some police were used to enforce “Jim Crow” laws after slavery was abolished.
“It has to be a higher level than teaching students to say ‘yes, sir’ and ‘yes, ma’am,'” he said. “Parents still have the ultimate responsibility to educate their children about the world. It belongs to the parents. I think that the concern is that there aren’t parents doing that anymore.”
Brandelyn Flunder, a recent transplant to Manor, said she wants her 14-year-old black son, who is “not a small kid,” to have safe interactions with police officers — but she doesn’t think he should be required to learn that in school.
“My black son interacting with police would be different than another person, a typical white person,” she said, adding that she also wants to see a bill requiring police officers to confront their implicit racial biases.
“I’m skeptical about what he can do to make the interaction better when he’s not likely to be the one escalating the situation,” she said.
Flunder said she and the teen’s father haven’t had frank conversations with him about interacting with police, but they don’t let their son go many places alone. They are struggling with the tension between not wanting their son to live in fear and wanting him to know his race could change the way officers respond to him, Flunder said.
Whitmire said he wants to see fewer police-citizen encounters end with violence.
“You’re just not going to win the argument on the street with law enforcement,” he said. “So we need to prepare ahead of time how we’re going to exercise our rights.”
Stephanie Stoebe, a teacher at Teravista Elementary in Round Rock ISD, said students should be learning how to have respectful interactions with police from their parents at home.
“The parent is the first teacher. Parents need to start sending their child to school with the attitude, ‘In our families, we respect police officers,’” she said.
If that job is transferred to schools, teachers can weave lessons into their social studies and English curricula showing students the need to respect police officers and engage with them positively, she said.
But requiring ninth graders to take the class would be logistically difficult and take the place of high-level classes required for graduation and college, she said.
High school lessons might not make a dent in a “fundamental misunderstanding between officers and drivers” about the rights they have, said Kathy Mitchell, a policy advocate with the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition.
“There’s a moment when all a driver has done is failure to signal a lane change and then an officer asks them to get out of their car, they don’t really believe that’s possible,” she said. “Officers can ask you to get out of your car and they can in fact detain and arrest you for failure to signal a lane change.”
Things like that need to be spelled out for Texas drivers to hopefully “create an atmosphere or politeness and respect,” Mitchell said.
The Texas Driver Handbook offers a few directions: Move to the side of the road; turn off the car; stay inside; follow the officer’s instructions; tell passengers not to exit unless told to do so; and safely and properly get back onto the road when cleared by the officer.
West said he wants future drivers to also understand what rights they have and how to go about filing complaints.
“If we put it in the driver’s license manual and make sure a part of the test covers that content, we hope we can better inform citizens of what they should and shouldn’t do during traffic stops, and what their rights are and how to make certain they avail themselves of their rights,” he said.
Schools in some parts of the country already teach students about police interactions. In New York City, the Civil Liberties Union teaches students to remain silent, not to consent to searches and how to file a complaint. In Chicago, public schools use a graphic poster book featuring celebrities that explains what to do during a traffic stop, while Illinois recently required all driver’s education courses to teach about police interactions.
Read related coverage:
- Texas senator says schools should teach teens how to handle police stops. Could the police-civilian divide be healed with new civics lessons and traffic stop guidelines from the state?
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2017/01/20/how-might-texas-teach-students-interact-police/.
Quilting Workshop at the Senior Citizens Center
The Quilting Guild put on a quilting workshop Saturday January 21st, 2017. With a few exceptions everyone was working on the same basic quilt pattern. Various stages of quilting were visible, from precision cutting of the squares, to layouts. Plenty of friendly advice and assistance was available, along with refreshments and door-prize drawings.
Quilters traveled from as far as Pittsburgh, TX to attend the session.
During the work, topics of discussion ranged from street repair to the latest Main Street Theater production.
All are welcomed.. that includes men. The Guild will meet Monday January 23rd at the Senior Citizens Center around 5PM.
