SSISD Elementary Students Challenged to Dream Big
Students in Sulphur Springs Elementary, Primary, and Early Childhood schools were challenged to Dream Big Friday during a presentation by Dare to Dream leader Jeff Harris and SSHS students Sadie Evans and Juan Gudino. Gudino and Evans anchor a weekly newscast for the Dare to Dream program. Harris stated the elementary aged students see them as role models due to their televised fame. The presentation will be included in Channel 18 News, December 9, 2016 seen on Suddenlink Cable Channel 18 at 6:30 p.m. and on ksstradio.com later Friday.
During the event, Harris challenged the students to be servant leaders.
Gudino spoke regarding the importance of learning the WILDCAT soft skills.
Evans sang and as well as challenged the students to big dreams.
County Fire Station Produces Safe View of Roadway
Trees and shrubs that have hidden Hopkins County Fire Department Station 20 and their access to Texas and League Streets have been cleared. County Fire Chief Andy Endsley stated the better view for drivers along the street and for the fire trucks leaving and entering the station will improve safety at the location that serves as the central fire station for the county. All firemen at that station are professional, paid firemen.
Endsley stated that the cleanup was one of his first objectives when he became chief. The cleanup received the support of the Texas Department of Transportation. TxDOT cut back all the brush and shrubs to their right of way but had to stop there. The owner of the property in front of the station gave permission to the department to clear the needed land space to provide a better view.
Due to the heavy work load for County Commissioners’ crews, the members of the county fire department did the work. Precinct 1 Commissioner Beth Wisenbaker loaned the use of a wood chipper and A. K. Gillis Company provided a Trachoe and labor to bury the debris. Endsley used his personal tractor for much of the work as well. He stated his crews will keep the area clean as well.
Endsley said some people have asked when the station was built now that it can be seen from the roadway. He noted that traffic from League Street onto Texas next to UPS is often traveling at a high rate of speed. He hopes that this will assist in slowing traffic. He awaits a decision of the city to approve a TxDOT change that will will close one section of the egress from League to Texas. The change will make the turn off League onto Texas more precise and will slow traffic. TxDOT has agreed to the roadway change.
Endsley invites the community to drive by during the day to note the work done and to drive by during the evening hours to see the Christmas with lights on the outside of the building and on a fire truck, a 1951 Howell International, that is property of Endsley. He placed the truck in front of the building for the Christmas season.
Couple Arrested for Injury to a Child
December 9, 2016 – Tiffany Nicole Epps, 29, and Glenn Anthony Epps, 37, were arrested at the Child Protective Services Office in Sulphur Springs regarding two felony warrants for injury to a child. Epps and her husband were involved in a lengthy investigation by the Special Crimes Unit and CPS Agents regarding the sale and use of cocaine from their residence, 525 South Locust Street in Sulphur Springs. During the completion of the case the two youngest kids of nine living in the home tested positive for cocaine. Warrants were issued for both the mother and the father.
Tiffany Nicole Epps
The first arrest of the pair occurred on November 23 at their residence. During the search at that time by the Special Crimes Unit, a rectangular mirror containing a quantity of suspected crack cocaine weighing over 1-gram was in plain sight on top of the inside AC unit. Another clear bag containing over 1-gram of suspected crack cocaine was observed on the end table next to the bed. The Epps’ residence was within 1000 feet of a daycare center, a drug free zone, enhancing the charges.
Glenn Anthony Epps
Child Protective Services was also involved in the arrest. There were nine (9) children living in the residence and present during the possession and delivery of the controlled substance.
He is in Hopkins County Jail charged with two felony warrants for manufacture and delivery of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 and Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1, over 1-gram but less than 4-grams in a Drug Free Zone being held on a total of 120,000 bond–$40,000 for each of the three charges. He is also being held on the Injury to a Child charges. She is being held on a $75,000 bond for Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1, over 1-gram but less than 4-grams in a Drug Free Zone and on two $50,000 bonds for the two counts of Injury to a Child.
Tira News
by Jan Vaughn
Please be in prayer for the family of Joyce Oetting – her husband, Ed Oetting, daughters, Annette Loper and Tina Gardner, from our community, and sons, Michael Wilson, Eric Wilson, and Dean Oetting and their families. Visitation is scheduled from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at the Birthright Baptist Church on Friday, December 9th, with a memorial service to follow.
The Tira City Council meeting was held at the on Tuesday, December 6th. Yvonne Weir was sworn in as a new council member. Incumbents Tami Joslin and Sherry Smiddy also took the oath of office for another term. They discussed community center and volunteer fire department business. Following the meeting, the members and guests decorated the Community Center for the community Christmas party, which is this Saturday, December 10th, at the Community Center, beginning at 6:00. Brisket will be provided. Bring a side dish or dessert and come visit with neighbors. Following the meal, there will be a brief Christmas program, and then Santa Claus will be stopping by to visit with the kids. We are, also, collecting canned goods, preferably gallon-size, for the Meal-a-Day program in Sulphur Springs.
Wesley Weir and his family enjoyed the My Heroes Bowling Team Christmas party at the Tira Community Center on Sunday afternoon. Robert Weir reported that about 40 bowlers and family members attended the event.
Yvonne Weir reports, “Weekend visitors at the Weir home were Shana Parkinson and her sons, Caleb and Aaron, as well as Sarah Therault and Lucas.” On Saturday, Shanna and the boys and the Weirs went to the lighted parade and activities on the square. On Saturday they bowled and Dakota, Sarah, and Lucas went to see the Christmas lights in Paris.
Yvonne went to visit her daughter, Destri, and her family on Wednesday. Yvonne and Destri went to the Dallas Arboretum’s 12 Days of Christmas exhibit that evening.
The Freeman Parish Tournament is going on this weekend, December 8th through 10th, at the North Hopkins Gym. The elementary students will present a Christmas program on Wednesday, December 14th, at 2:00 p.m. Also, on the North Hopkins calendar are the Beta winter coat drive, going on through December 15th, and their Facebook cake auction on December 15th & 16th. Your support of the school activities is always appreciated.
Chip and I spent Friday and Saturday with Chip’s sister, Linda Ellen Vaughn, in Dallas. Linda fed us well, while Chip did some home repairs for her and I mended some of her clothes. On the way back, we went to Point and visited with Natali Lawson. On Tuesday evening, Chip and I attended a Christmas party at Roma’s Italian Restaurant in Sulphur Springs, for the nursery workers at First Baptist Church and their spouses. Chip enjoys keeping the toddlers each week.
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].
Hall Sets Town Hall Meetings to Discuss 85th Texas Legislature
bob hall
Texas Senate District 2 representative Robert “Bob” Hall will be in Sulphur Springs Thursday, December 15th from 4:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. to hold a public town hall meeting. the local town hall meeting will be one stop on a week-long tour across the district as he answers questions from constituents and discusses the upcoming 85th Legislative Session.
Senator Robert “Bob” Hall represents District 2, which encompasses Delta, Fannin, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Rains, Rockwall, Van Zandt, and parts of Dallas counties.
Senator Hall will discuss the state of important legislative activities in Texas. He will cover his work in the interim, property tax relief, transportation funding, including plans to eliminate toll roads and reduce congestion, implementing meaningful border security, securing the Texas Electric Grid, and other legislative topics. Questions from those attending are encouraged.
Senator Hall will give all elected officials in attendance an opportunity to introduce themselves.
His itinerary for the week includes:
Monday, December 12th:
Emory City Center
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
735 N. Texas St, Emory, TX 75440
City HallBonham
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
514 Chestnut St, Bonham, TX 75418
Thursday, December 15th:
RockwallHarry Myers Community Center –
9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
815 E Washington St, Rockwall, TX 75087
Kaufman County Library
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
3790 S. Houston St, Kaufman, Texas 75142
Sulphur Springs City Hall
4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
201 N Davis St, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482
Friday, December 16th:
Community CenterRowlett
1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
5300 Main St, Rowlett, TX 75088
Lady Cats Defeat Peaster 58-30
The Lady Cats’ basketball team won their first two games Thursday at an Edgewood tournament in dominating fashion. After overwhelming Quitman, 71-9 Thursday morning, the Lady Cats soundly defeated Peaster, 58-30 Thursday night.
The game was tight throughout the first half with the Lady Cats holding on to a slim 3 point lead, 24-21 at the half. In the third quarter, the Lady Cats doubled their score while holding Peaster to just 5 points. After three, the Lady Cats were in command, 48-26. The Lady Cats shot a blistering 51% from the field including 6 of 11 from three point range. Kaylee Jefferson led the Lady Cats with 20 points. She got strong support from Sadavia Porter and Daieyshia Pruitt with 10 points each and Tori Moore with 9 points. Moore hit three 3’s, Pruitt added two and Porter one. Three Lady Cats had a team leading six rebounds: Jefferson, Autumn Tanton and Pruitt. Jefferson also contributed 4 steals and 5 assists. The Lady Cats had only 7 turnovers.
With the two wins, the Lady Cats improved their season record to 9-3. They will play host Edgewood Friday at 6:40 p.m. with the winner heading for Saturday’s final game.
Health And Wellness In Hopkins County By Johanna Hicks
Health & Wellness in Hopkins County
This is the second in a series of summaries for Extension programming in the area of Family & Consumer Sciences. 2016 has brought many challenges, but many rewards when it comes to the health of our Hopkins County citizens.
According to The State of Obesity Better Policies for a Healthier America, released in September, 2016, Texas has the 10th highest adult obesity rate (32.4%) in the nation, while ranking 32nd (32.2%) in the prevalence of childhood overweight or obesity. Health issues related to overweight include diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and obesity-related cancer. While these numbers are alarming, the percentage of children ages 10-17 who are overweight or obese has decreased since 2003.
Hopkins County statistics are very similar to the state rankings, with a slightly lower percentage for adults (29%) according to www.countyhealthrankings.org. Adults reporting no leisure-time physical activity is 30% while 17% report to be current smokers. Hopkins County Family & Consumer Sciences Committee, along with the Community Health/Wellness Alliance, Sulphur Springs and Como-Pickton ISD School Health Advisory Councils, and community partners have expressed the need to continue addressing the topic of nutrition, physical activity, and over-all well-being. Several action plans have been implemented to meet the need.
1) Walk Across Texas, is an 8-week program to promote the healthy habit of walking and other physical activities. The goal is for participants in teams of 8 to log 833 miles (the distance from Beaumont to El Paso) during the 8-week period. 115 individuals participated in 2016
– 15 teams from City National Bank
– Miles logged – 12,589.29
– Economic impact – $1,569,848 based on potential health care cost savings and net value for lost wages.
– 16 females and 3 males could delay or prevent diabetes if they continue frequent physical activity
– Individuals indicated learning the importance of physical activity for the improvement of circulation, increased energy, helping maintain or lose weight, and potential for prevention or delay of certain diseases (hypertension, heart disease)
– Individuals planning to incorporate 30 minutes or more of physical activity most days of the week increased – 98 (85%)
2) Walk & Talk is a spin-off of Walk Across Texas which promotes physical activity, but also incorporates a nutrition component. Each week for the 8-week program, a simple nutrition message was taught along with occasional cooking demonstrations and hands-on participation, followed by at least 30 minutes of walking. The nutrition segments focused on increasing fruit and vegetable intake, as well as lean proteins, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.
– 18 individuals completed the pre- and post- surveys
– 3 teams of Head Start parents
– Miles logged – 2,784 miles
– Three participants indicated losing weight since beginning this program
– Cooking demonstrations and nutritional lessons were taught prior to walking together on the school track.
– Post- surveys indicated an increase in the number of days participants were active for at least 30 minutes and a decrease in leisure-time inactivity.
– Economic impact for Walk & Talk was $220,852 and four females could avoid or delay developing diabetes if they continue to achieve 30 minutes of physical activity most days.
Incentive items included measuring cups, measuring spoons, veggie peeler, lunch kits, refrigerator and meat thermometers, spray bottles (for making sanitizing solution), shopping pads and sports bottles (for water), along with handouts and recipes to reinforce topics taught
3) Fresh Start to a Healthier You is a 4-lesson series featuring MyPlate, Fight Bac (Food Safety), Stretching Your Food Dollar (Food Budgeting), and Fruits & Vegetables.
– 15 individuals completed the pre- and post- surveys
– Individuals increasing fruit and vegetable intake from pre- and post- surveys – 11 (73%)
– Other indicators which improved from pre- to post- surveys: washing fruits & veggies before using, shopping with a list (and sticking to it), planning meals ahead of time, comparing prices
– When asked to describe one practice adopted after attending classes, participants response was: wrapping meat in plastic to freeze (food safety), adding more color to meals (variety), healthy shopping, washing all fruits (not just those with edible skins), involving kids in shopping and preparing meals, selecting more fruits & vegetables, reading labels
4) Better Living for Texans newsletter is a monthly newsletter focusing on a variety of nutrition, physical activity, and health topics, including a recipe with each edition.
– Prepared 12 issues in 2016 (English & Spanish)
– Households receiving the newsletter – 5,500
– Distributed to all Hopkins County schools, WIC, Head Start, Department of State Health Services, Community Chest, Hope’s House (faith-based food and clothing pantry), posted on Hopkins County Extension website
5) Hopkins County Family & Consumer Sciences Facebook page has weekly posts about physical fitness, nutrition, and well-being topics. The page currently has 150 ‘likes’, so be sure to check it out if you are on Facebook!
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension is making strides to address health and wellness in Hopkins County, and I want to personally thank those who have participated in program series, one-shot programs, subscribed to the Better Living for Texans newsletter, or ‘likes’ the Facebook page. Together, we are making a difference!
Closing Thought
Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable – 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]
2016 Hopkins County Water and Energy Conservation By Mario Villarino
2016 Hopkins County Water and Energy Conservation
Developed by Dr. Mario A. Villarino, County Extension Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources Hopkins County, Texas
Relevance: Water quality and water quantity has emerged as the predominant issue across the state as indicated through local input, legislative efforts, and numerous other indicators. Agriculture is the largest water user in the state and agriculture is under close scrutiny because of the potential for negative environmental (water quality) impacts. Water use in the municipal environment including irrigation of athletic fields, in parks, home landscapes, and within the home constitutes a major portion of water used in Texas. Programs designed to educate all adult and youth water users on water conservation will reduce overall water use and increase water use efficiency. Care must also be taken to reduce the risk of water quality contamination from production agriculture areas as well as urban/suburban settings. Marketing will be conducted accordingly to every activity included in this plan. This plan will include educational opportunities for dairy producers to learn and adopt manure management and water conservation principles required by State and Federal Conservation Agencies.
Response: To address the educational needs established by this plan we conducted the following multidisciplinary activities:
- Agents and specialist planning for Dairy Outreach Program (February 2016).
- Planning sessions with CWA for Kids Camp and Skills Camp (Monthly)
- Kids Camp Water Session (June, 2016): The camp included a training session in native gardening (Youth Education).
- Ag in the Classroom Water training: 847-4th grade students participated in a water training related to erosion, water protection and impact of human activity on rivers and lakes (October 2016)(Youth Education).
- 2016 Result demonstration in use of drought resistant empress trees (Paulownia elongata) to mobilize soil nutrients.
- Septic System Inspection training for Homeowners, October, 2016 (12 participants).
- Dairy Outreach Program Area (DOPA training)(October 26, 2016)(5 CEU): Dairy producers learned the impact of manure management in fly control, use of drones in manure management, Proper management of sedimentation pools, pros and cons of commercial fertilizers, composts and manure and White oak watershed evaluation project.
Evaluation Strategy: Retrospective post evaluation
Results:
- 64% (12/19) consider good or excellent the information related to imagery in manure management programs (DOPA 2016).
- 48% (9/19) consider good or excellent the information related to NRCS local programs (DOPA 2016).
- 74% (14/19) consider good or excellent the information related to White Oak watershed project (DOPA 2016).
- 58% (11/19) consider good or excellent the information related to manure management of flies (DOPA 2016).
- 42% (8/19) consider good or excellent the information related to use of manure, compost or fertilizers (DOPA 2016).
- 91.6% (11/12) will benefit economically from the training (Septic System Inspection Training for Homeowners).
- 100% will recommend the training to others (Septic System Inspection Training for Homeowners).
- Youth impacts are described in 4-H section of this report.
Future implications: Dairy Outreach Program Area credits will continue to be offered to permit dairies during 2017.
Mario Villarino DVM, Ph.D.
Hopkins County Extension Agent for Ag and NR
1200B Houston Street
Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482
903-885-3443
Lady Cats Open Edgewood Tournament with 71-9 Win over Quitman
The Lady Cats’ basketball team opened an Edgewood tournament with a lopsided 71-9 win over Quitman Thursday.
The Lady Cats led 14-3 after the first quarter and then held Quitman without a point for the next two quarters. The Lady Cats led 35-3 at halftime and 49-3 after three quarters. Kaylee Jefferson led the Lady Cats with 18 points. Sadavia Porter added 12 points. Daieyshia Pruitt scored 11 points and Imani Taylor had 10. The Lady Cats shot 48% from the floor and made 5 of 7 free throws. The Lady Cats committed only 5 turnovers. Jefferson and Destinee Weeks each had 6 rebounds to lead the Lady Cats. Porter had 9 steals and had 5 assists.
The Lady Cats are now 8-3 for the year. They play again at 8 p.m. Thursday night against Peaster.
