Update on Renovation at SSHS Sports Venues
Wednesday morning Wildcats Athletic Director Greg Owens gave media members an update on renovation work at Gerald Prim Stadium and Lady Cat Park as well as plans for a new baseball field to be built near ECLC. He said Prim improvements will include replacing sod with artificial turf, redoing all the home side and installing new LED lights. Capacity should be 4,000 on the home side.
The stands will include room for the band and drill team. There will be no end zone seating. Concession stands, restrooms, ticket booth and a one-story press box will be rebuilt. Nothing will be done at this time to dressing rooms or to the visitors’ side which should be able to seat 2,000 to 2,200.
Demolition work is currently underway and it’s being done by the school district’s maintenance department along with county jail trustees. Coach Owens said safety concerns with the press box and home stands were factors in doing the work as well as the need to upgrade worn out facilities. The work will also eliminate the problem of not being able to schedule baseball and soccer games at the same time. Dirt work for the new baseball field is underway. Coach Owens said grass might be planted soon.
The softball field is undergoing a large makeover. A drainage system has been installed and new grass planted. The field was raised a foot to help it drain. A new fence has been put up. New dugouts are being built. A new scoreboard arrived Tuesday. The softball field will get a tarp. After this softball season, renovation will take place for stands, press box and concession stand. That work is expected to be completed along with work at Prim by August 1.The Wildcats first football game is September 1.
Baseball will play this season at Eagle Stadium. The new baseball field should be ready by the start of the 2018 baseball season.
Coach Owens said anything that can be reused is being reused to save costs. He placed the cost at between $8-million and $12-million. It’s being done mostly using maintenance notes with no bond issue or increase in taxes.
To accommodate the projects, soccer teams are moving this season’s games to the track field. Coach Owens said currently, work on the projects was on schedule or even perhaps ahead of schedule.
Brunch With Santa Begins The Christmas Season
(18 November 2016, Commerce, Texas) Santa Claus will be making an early stop at the Northeast Texas Children’s Museum for the annual Brunch with Santa. This year’s event will be on Saturday, December 3 from 9:30 to 11:30. Commerce Lil’ Angels will provide a pancake breakfast. Christmas crafts, Christmas trains, and, of course, Santa Claus, will make the event a wonderful way to begin the Christmas Season.
Santa will be traveling to Commerce and is looking forward to seeing the children. He is also looking forward to seeing the Children’s Museum. The many play areas inside and in the Great Outdoor Discovery Area will provide an opportunity for children to discover, create, and participate in imaginative play.
“This is my favorite event of the year,” said Sharline Freeman, Executive Director. “It is exciting for us to see the children so happy with the excitement of Christmas.”
In addition to Brunch, several Christmas craft areas will entertain the children. They may write a letter to Santa and mail it at the Children’s Museum. Ornament crafts and Christmas bracelets will also be available. Children will also have the opportunity to play in all the exhibits. They can make bubbles in the Kiwanis Bubble Room, doctor the dogs in the Commerce Veterinary Clinic, buy groceries in the Brookshire’s Grocery exhibit, milk a cow, or play in any of the other play areas.
“This event has become a highlight for families in northeast Texas,” said Beckey Thompson, board president. “It is a great way to begin the Christmas season.”
Get your cameras ready, bring your wish list and say “hello” to jolly, old Saint Nick. Tickets for the event are $8 .00 per person and are $10.00 at the door on the day of the event. For more information, call the Northeast Texas Children’s Museum at (903) 886-6055.
Meal A Day Menu For November 21-25
Garlic Toast
Local artist’s creation in Radio-TV Auction!
Artist Terry McCullough explains techniques used in “Flying Hearts”
Terry McCullough, owner of TMPWorld, is a creative thinker by occupation and also a contemporary expressionist, creating art in oil on canvas. A piece of his original artwork has been donated to the Sulphur Springs Symphony League’s annual Radio and TV Auction set for Saturday November 19, 2016 inside the KSST/Channel 18 TV studios.
“Flying Hearts” was created a few years ago in oil, and later, other features were added using a technique in an encaustic medium. Unlike his commissioned work, “Flying Hearts” was never for sale but was displayed in Terry’s offices because of it’s uplifting spirit. In 2016, he decided to donate it to the arts, through the Sulphur Springs Symphony League’s annual fundraising event.
Terry and his wife Leslie now make their home in the Reilly Springs community of Hopkins County, while continuing to work out of their Dallas and Tyler offices. As time permits, Terry creates commissioned projects for individuals and commercially.
CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital Sulphur Springs and CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic to Celebrate National Rural Health Day
Sterling Heights, Michigan (June 30, 2016) – CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Sulphur Springs and CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic – Sulphur Springs and Emory will join the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and other state/national rural stakeholders in celebrating National Rural Health Day on Thursday, November 17, 2016.
NOSORH created National Rural Health Day as a way to showcase rural America; increase awareness of rural health-related issues; and promote the efforts of NOSORH, State Offices of Rural Health and others in addressing those issues. Plans call for National Rural Health Day to become an annual celebration on the third Thursday of each November.
Events recognizing National Rural Health Day and “Celebrating the Power of Rural” are being planned throughout the nation. Our team daily strives to “Extend the healing ministry of Jesus Christ” to each and every patient we serve.
Approximately 62 million people – nearly one in five Americans – live in rural and frontier communities throughout the United States. “These small towns, farming communities and frontier areas are wonderful places to live and work; they are places where neighbors know each other and work together,” said NOSORH Director Teryl Eisinger. “The hospitals and providers serving these rural communities not only provide quality patient care, but they also help keep good jobs in rural America.”
These communities also face unique healthcare needs. “Today more than ever, rural communities must tackle accessibility issues, a lack of healthcare providers, the needs of an aging population suffering from a greater number of chronic conditions, and larger percentages of un- and underinsured citizens,” Eisinger said. “Meanwhile, rural hospitals are threatened with declining reimbursement rates and disproportionate funding levels that makes it challenging to serve their residents.”
State Offices of Rural Health play a key role in addressing those needs. All 50 states maintain a State Office of Rural Health, each of which shares a similar mission: to foster relationships, disseminate information and provide technical assistance that improves access to, and the quality of, health care for its rural citizens. In the past year alone, State Offices of Rural Health collectively provided technical assistance to more than 28,000 rural communities.
Additional information about National Rural Health Day can be found at nosorh.org/nrhd.
Redo for Raza
In a unique twist, Mohammad Shabeeh Raza will face a second trial in Eighth Judicial District Court for online solicitation of a minor. Monday afternoon Raza was found guilty of the charge made following his arrest in December 2015 at a Sulphur Springs convenience store. On Monday, Raza had been remanded to the custody of the Sheriff and would have entered the sentencing phase of the trail December 6th. Instead, the District Attorney’s office is preparing for a second trail due to an incorrect admonition given the defendant by his attorney.
Raza, who at the time of his arrest was a systems engineer living in Kansas City, Missouri but has family in Plano, was admonished by his defense attorney that the charge was a third degree felony and that he faced up to 10 years in prison for the charge. As Judge Eddie Northcutt began the sentencing plan, it was found that under statue his action qualified as a second degree felony and not a third degree felony requiring a more lengthy prison stay. That raised the question would he have taken a plea agreement instead of trial?
District Attorney Will Ramsay said his office will now begin the process again. Ramsay stated that the law as written regarding online solicitation is easily misunderstood. A portion of the law as first written was found to be unconstitutional. He stated that the redo should take place soon.
The 5 ft. one inch male arrived at a local convenience store on a December Sunday following a holiday stop with friends in the Dallas area. Arriving early, Raza had just finished shaving in the store restroom when he exited the restroom and was taken into custody by Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County law enforcement. In Hopkins County Jail his bond was first set at $75,000 but was increased to $200,000 the next day after more information was made available to Justice of the Peace Brad Cummings and local law enforcement. When ordering the ankle monitor, Cummings discovered that Raza held dual citizenship in the U. S. and in India. It was also disclosed that he had ties in Pakistan and had traveled to London and Europe recently. The Justice of the Peace deemed Raza a flight risk and required him to relinquish his passport and to remain in Texas should he be released. Raza has a teenaged sister and father who live in Plano.
38th Annual Fall Roundup at Wesley United Methodist Church
WITH “FALL ROUNDUP” TIME NEARLY HERE, THE CONGREGATION OF WESLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN SULPHUR SPRINGS IS INVITING EVERYONE FOR GREAT FOOD AND HOSPITALITY! THE ANNUAL EVENT IS SET FOR SATURDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2016 AT THE CHURCH AT 614 TEXAS STREET. CHICKEN AND BEEF STEW AND TWO POTS OF CHILI WILL BE COOKED OUTDOORS NEAR THE BELLVIEW STREET ENTRANCE OF THE CHURCH. THE COOKS WILL SERVE FROM 4:30PM TIL 6:30PM, AND THE ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT PRICE OF $6 FOR ADULTS AND $4 FOR CHILDREN ALSO INCLUDES ALL THE HOMEMADE DESSERTS YOU WANT TO EAT! VISITORS TO THE COUNTRY STORE CAN GET STARTED SHOPPING AS EARLY AS 3:30PM, AND THE SILENT AUCTION WILL GO ON DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE TRADITIONAL LIVE AUCTION WILL START AT 6:30PM IN WESLEY GYM/FAMILY LIFE CENTER WITH WADE BARTLEY AS AUCTIONEER, THIS IS A FUNDRAISER FOR THE MANY MISSIONS OF WESLEY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH THROUGH THE YEAR.
CAROL ANN O’DELL, CO-CHAIR OF FALL ROUNDUP
Intoxication Leads to Assault
Sulphur Springs Police responded to a disturbance in the 1000 block of Main Street Tuesday night around 11:16 p.m. There they arrested Justin Karl Roderick, 58, of Sulphur Springs for Assault Family Violence Restriction of Airway/Circulation.
The victim told police that Roderick had choked her to the point that she could not breathe or scream for help. Roderick had been drinking all day and was highly intoxicated. As officers arrested Roderick, he resisted arrest and had to be forced into the back of the patrol unit.
Lady Cats Defeat North Lamar; Wildcats Defeat Athens
Lady Cats 42, North Lamar 29
The Lady Cats’ basketball team won one the ugly way Tuesday night as the Lady Cats topped North Lamar, 42-29 in Wildcats Gym. That was the assessment of Lady Cats Coach Jeff Chapman who said the ball didn’t bounce the Lady Cats way a lot of the time Tuesday. Sadavia Porter used her speed to score several goals on breakaway layups an led the Lady Cats with 11 points. Porter also had 6 deflections and 5 steals. Tori Moore and Daieyshia Pruitt added 7 points each. Moore also had 5 steals. Kaylee Jefferson led the Lady Cats with 6 rebounds. The Lady Cats managed only 2 of 14 from three-point range but hit 40 percent of their two-point shots thanks in part to Porter’s high percentage layups. The Lady Cats did manage to outscore the rusty Pantherettes in every quarter. The Pantherettes have had just a few practices since the end of their volleyball season. The Lady Cats are now 2-1 for the season. They will travel to Hugo, Oklahoma for a game Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Wildcats 74, Athens 59
Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta said the Wildcats’ basketball team won 74-59 at Athens Tuesday night in a season opener before a hostile crowd in an atmosphere that reminded him of a district game. Coach Cipoletta said it was a sloppy game at times but he added the Wildcats made enough defensive stops to open up the final margin. He said his team did a good job in the win but made enough mistakes to give him plenty for them on work on. Tall sophomore Victor Iwuakor led the team with 18 points and returner senior K’Ontae Dunn scored 15 points. Freshman Michael Jefferson had 10 points. Juniors Bryson Lynn and Dedric Godbolt each hit three 3-point baskets and each scored 9 points. Sophomore Keaston Willis had 8 points. The 1-0 Wildcats play next at Lindale Monday at 7:30 p.m. The game pits Coach Cipoletta against his high school coach. Then the Wildcats will have their home opener next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against Wills Point.
