Posse Sworn In Under New Sheriff
Seventeen members of the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Posse were present at the swearing in on January 10, 2017 during the Posse’s first monthly meeting of the year. Election of officers was also held. 2017 officers are Captain Lisa Hooten, Lt. Gary Moon, Secretary/Treasurer Frank Tieman, Platoon A Sergeant Joe Hooten with Corporal Earl Martin, Platoon B Sergeant Steve Huffman with Corporal Sam Tatum. Members were also issued updated ID cards. The organization will observe it’s 30-year anniversary during 2017. Charter posse members were sworn in October 1987 by former Sheriff Bill Dierks. Current Hopkins County Sheriff Lewis Tatum began his career in law enforcement as a Posse member.
Grab Your Rewards Card; A Starbucks Update
Flying a white flag and declaring myself a member of the media (no comments please…) I slipped into the new Starbucks in Sulphur Springs. I was able to speak briefly with a district manager. A tentative opening date slated for… get ready for it…. Early February 2017.
Although there are a few expected minor items to work on, the structure is ready. The delay at this moment is the first delivery of stock.
[poll id=”49″]
Wildcats, Lady Cats Off Tuesday; Return to Hardwood Friday
In a seven team district like both the Wildcats and Lady Cats are in, each game night one of the district’s teams has to have the night off while the other six play. Both the Wildcats and Lady Cats have their first round bye Tuesday night.
The Lady Cats are 5-0 in district play coming into the open date and the Wildcats are 3-0 in district play. Both resume play Friday against Mt. Pleasant. The Wildcats will face the Tigers at home while the Lady Cats will play the Lady Tigers on the road. Mt. Pleasant teams are matched up against Texas High Tuesday night before playing the Wildcats and Lady Cats.
Both Wildcats Basketball Coach Clark Cipoletta and Lady Cats Basketball Coach Jeff Chapman have indicated they hope to take in the Texas High and Mt. Pleasant games Tuesday night. The Tigers play Texas High at home and the Lady Tigers, coached by former Lady Cats Coach Tina Carrillo, travel to Texarkana.
The Wildcats hit the open date with an 18-4 record while the Lady Cats are 19-3. The Wildcats and Lady Cats second round open date is on Friday, February 3.
Saltillo Homecoming Court Announced
Saltillo 2017 Homecoming Court has been announced. Cornation is Friday night at halftime of the Varsity boys basketball game. Pep Rally is 9:30 Friday morning. Nominees are: Front Row L to R: Freshman Duchess – Jocelyn Ochoa, Sophomore Duchess – Christy Marquez & Junior Duchess Christie Gurley; Senior Queen Nominees L to R: Kacey Sanders, BreAnna Reynolds, Selena Hernandez, Brianna Harvick, Caitlin Shelby, Melissa Groenewold, Rainie English, Brenda Castro, Ana Gallegos & Destiny Welch.
Hurry to Become a 2017 Chamber Member!
LEZLEY BROWN SAYS HURRY FOR MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS!
Lezley Brown takes her job very seriously as President/CEO of the Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce. She wants businesses, organizations and individuals to know all the benefits available as a Chamber member, and that in fact, membership is quite a bargain! Inclusion in the beautiful full-color 2017 Membership Directory is promised if you join before the deadline of mid-January. Advertising and promotion are part of the package, with a free mini-website you can use and change all year. The Membership Directory reaches over 7,000 people including visitors and residents. New members also receive a ribbon-cutting, open house or mixer at their business as a Chamber-sponsored event. There are networking opportunities all year long as well as business training and education opportunities. Contact Lezley or her staff to get all the details!
Also, the annual Chamber Membership Banquet is coming up on Thursday February 16, 2017 at 6pm in the Civic Center banquet hall, with “An Evening in the Woods” as the theme. This will be a business casual event and meal where numerous Community Awards and recognitions will be made. Nominations are still being taken for two categories: Large Business (51-plus employees)and Small Business (1-50 employees) of the Year. Hurry and get your nominations in this week by contacting the Chamber for a Nomination form, then be there and see who wins the awards!
Business owners find still more ways that the Chamber helps them reach the public. Go to the website for a full listing of benefits. Additionally, there are opportunities open for people to serve their community as Chamber Ambassadors and volunteers.
The Hopkins County Chamber of Commerce is conveniently located downtown Sulphur Springs at 300 Connally Street across from City Hall. Phone the Chamber weekdays at 903-885-6515 or email Lezley at [email protected]. Search the website at www.sulphurspringstx.com and click on the Visitors tab.
SSISD Sets Filing Dates; Applies for Waivers
Filing dates have been set for two seats on the Sulphur Springs ISD school board. The dates were set and applications for various waivers were approved during Monday’s board meeting.
Places on the board held by Robert Cody and Robin Vaughn will be on the May 6, 2017 ballot. Filing dates for the May 6th board election are January 18 through February 17. One may file for a place on the board at the district administration building.
The board requested a waiver to limit foreign exchange students to three. Superintendent Michael Lamb told the board that schools are allowed to limit the number to facilitate a proper environment for the students who are living with families in the area. He stated the number will allow agencies that place students as they work with those desiring to live and study in the Northeast Texas area.
Also in the applications for waiver, student days will be converted to staff development days for the 2017-2018 school year. Students will attend classes 175 days and 12 days will be devoted to staff development as the waivers are approved by the state. The requests are being made to facilitate the calendar process for the next school year. The same number of days for students and staff development are on the calendar for this school year but the waivers must be requested as they expire. Also six half days are being requested. The half days are flexible and can be used as partial days now that the state is counting minutes, according to Lamb.
The board also approved some personnel moves and new employee:
PERSONNEL
Resignations
Carolyn Marie Craig SpEd Aide SS Elementary
New personnel
Jairo Ramirez Bilingual Aide Douglas
Personnel Change New position/campus Former position/campus
Crystal Cervantes Grade 3 teacher/SS Elementary Head Start Aide/ECLC
Jordan Tyler SpEd teacher/Middle School SpEd Aide/Middle School
Swipe Back at Traffic
Moving Day
The Darth Vader of lunch hours… traffic delays steal from us each time we leave the home. Time spent in the car does not need be wasted. Some drivers attempt to remove ear wax, brush hair, trim nose hair, or simply conduct business conferences. Who hasn’t experienced the dreaded ‘front seat arm’ flailing back to subdue rowdy children. Obviously state law prohibits all distracted driving. What is a commuter to do?
I use the WAZE app. And WAZE uses you. WAZE is more than just a point to point navigation app, if you give it permission, it uploads your telemetry to their servers. In real time WAZE can automatically adjust your route to bypass traffic delays.
The time saving is greater on longer drives, and the quality of the re-routing depends on the number of users in an area actually uploading data.
Another benefit is that changes to roads and detours (I-30 and Highway 19 for example…) are incorporated quickly into WAZE. The servers constantly compare map data with user data, then adjust route planning accordingly.
The list of additional features is too long to list here.
North Hopkins Beta Club News
The North Hopkins Beta Club ended the 2016 semester with 60 member students and a blockbuster canned food drive for Hope House. At over 2,780 pounds, theirs was the largest single donation toward the Delta County charity. New projects for 2017 include a recycling project, a coat drive and a club fundraiser. Members will do morning coffee sales, fruit sales and online cake auctions to raise money for State Convention coming up February 24-26 in Frisco, Texas where Club President Mattie Hall will run for Texas State Vice President.
Senior Betas blocked the door to their Government teacher’s class to demonstrate the size of the food donation in the Block the Door Initiative Pictured are: Colton Ross, Aaron Stanley, Melissa Wischerman, Carli Withrow, Christian Matlock, Hollie Stidham, Allyiah French, Kaylynn Allen, Mary Brown and Mattie Hall.
Mrs. Brandenburg’s second-grade class assisted in the Beta Club drive.
