Hopkins County Republican Party Plans Watch Party
The Hopkins County Republican Party will hold a WATCH PARTY at the League Street Church of Christ Fellowship Hall Tuesday Night November 8th. The church is located at 1100 S. League Street in Sulphur Springs.
The doors will open at 6:30 PM and the public is invited to attend.
There will be a Large Screen TV to watch the state and national elections.
The Hopkins County GOP will furnish pizza, drinks, and cookies.
NETBIO Board Prepares for November 16th Calf and Yearling Sale
by Paul Bailey
As the Northeast Texas Beef Improvement Organization (NETBIO) nears the completion of its 18th year of operation, organizers and directors have reviewed another successful year and are preparing for its anniversary Pre-conditioned Calf and Yearling Sale on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
This anniversary sale will be held at the Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission where the NETBIO sales have all been held since the very first one in November of 1998. Auctioneer Joe Don Pogue, one of the original organizers, will begin selling more than 8,000 head of cattle at 1 p.m.
In addition to seeing the sale in person at the Market Center, the sale is also broadcast on the Internet and bids will be accepted at LMAAuctions.com. Prospective buyers should register in advance of the sale.
Prior to the sale a barbecue lunch with all the trimmings will be served to all the producers (sellers) and buyers attending the sale. It will be sponsored in part by Alliance Bank of Sulphur Springs. This has been a once-a-year tradition since that first sale.
For those not familiar with NETBIO, it is an organization comprised of independent cattle producers and agri-business representatives working together to enhance the beef industry and the entire Northeast Texas rural and urban economy.
But according to Dwyatt Bell and David Fowler, two of the original organizers, NETBIO has become much more than they could have imagined.
“NETBIO is recognized across the State of Texas and the Southern United States as the leader in its reputable offering of preconditioned calves,” said Bell, who has continually served as the Chief Operating Officer of the organization since its inception. “Not only has it enhanced the beef industry both in quality and quantity in Northeast Texas, but it has reached out beyond the borders of Texas and into dozens of Texas counties.”
NETBIO today has more than 700 members who participate in the preconditioning program and marketing opportunities. Those members reside in 5 states outside of Texas, and membership covers over 43 Texas counties.
Fowler said that the idea for NETBIO, born in the mid-1990s, was ahead of its time.
“There were no big sales offering preconditioned calves and yearlings. The feedlots had to do the conditioning themselves,” he said. “With the advent of NETBIO, there was born an opportunity for producers to wean and pre-condition calves in their own pastures and sell them in truckload lots to cattle feeders.”
A non-profit organization, NETBIO has lived up to its name by improving the genetic make-up and quality of commercial cattle herds in Northeast Texas and throughout the regions where members participate.
With seminars and special programs, NETBIO keeps members up to date on herd improvement and management practices. Fowler and Bell agree that this attention to management, along with better quality cattle, rewards producers financially at sale time for adding value to their product.
They point out that top quality preconditioned cattle has resulted in an outstanding marketing year. In six NETBIO sales from November 2015 through September 2016, producers sold 35,846 head of pre-conditioned calves for an average of $913.57.
NETBIO also gives back to the community in many ways besides supporting beef cattle producers. Each year the organization presents Jim Jacobs Memorial Scholarships to four college agriculture students, as well as a scholarship in the name of founder the Dr. J.D. Norris.
The organization recently sponsored the Cattlemen’s Classic in Sulphur Springs, serving up approximately 750 steak dinners. Twenty-eight teams completed in the cook-off. Members also participated in this year’s Ag-In-The-Classroom program.
Helping Bell keep all this activity going for 18 years is the producer board members and the agribusiness board members. On the producer board are Brian Cummins of Canton, president; Henry Potts of Emory, Doug Blackard of Cookville, Steve Chaney of Kaufman, David Zahn of Sulphur Springs, Rodney Lennon of Point, Ben Lamborn of Sulphur Bluff, Mike Thompson of Mt. Pleasant, Lynn Melton of Grand Saline, Ben Shumate of Cookville, and new members Grant Sadler of Alba and Greg Spigener of Mt. Pleasant.
Agribusiness board members are Bell, CEO; Mario Villarino, Joe Don Pogue, David Fowler, Marchall “Bo” Dunlap, David Black, DVM; Kevin Gray, DVM and Chris McClure. The Academic board member is Douglas Eborn, PhD of A&M-Commerce.
The books are already open for consignment to the January 18, 2017 sale and producers who missed the November auction are invited to sign up for that sale now. Call the Sulphur Springs Livestock Auction at 903-885-2455 for information and to reserve your ear tags for a spot in the January auction.
SSHS Veterans’ Day Program November 11
SSHS will have a special Veterans Day program to honor our past and present military. We are inviting all Hopkins County veterans, current service members, and their spouses for a reception followed by a patriotic program. The reception will begin at 12 noon in the SSHS Library. The program will follow at 1:00 pm in the gymnasium with special performances by our SSHS Band and various guests.
Parking will be provided in the teacher’s parking lot and student’s parking lot. Please come join us in honoring our current and veteran military members.
For more information please contact Johna Burchfield at (903) 885-2158.
DBA Classic Car Show Fills Celebration Plaza
Classic Cars and Pickups filled Celebration Plaza Saturday, November 5th, as the Downtown Business Association sponsored their annual event.
Suspicious Vehicle Leads to Arrest of Two Men
Hopkins County Deputies were called to County Road 3502 to check out a suspicious vehicle and a suspicious person. There they found two people who failed to identify themselves correctly on the first try. They also found 42-grams of a suspected quantity of methamphetamine and securities and benefits obtained under false names.
Corey Butler
Corey James Butler, 28, of Garland was a passenger in the vehicle. He first identified himself as Christopher Butler but later at Hopkins County Jail admitted to using a wrong name and gave the correct information. Also as he was booked into jail, he was found to have a white crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine on his person. At the time of his arrest on CR 3502, he was found to have an expandable baton on his person.
Garland Shane Robinson, 38, of Dallas (picture not available) gave his name as Landon Lee. It was quickly discovered that he was lying about his name. An inventory of the F250 Supercab he was in disclosed 42-grams of suspected methamphetamine in a computer bag on the back seat of the vehicle. Documents used to obtain securities and benefits in the name of Landon Lee and the name of Nicolas Branson were also found in the vehicle.
Butler is charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Penalty Group 1 over 4-grams but less than 200-grams, Prohibitive Weapon, Fail to ID Fugitive From Justice, and a Van Zandt Warrant for Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 under 1-gram. He is being held on at total of $111,000 in bonds.
Garland Shane Robinson
Robinson is charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance, Penalty Group 1 over 4-grams but less than 200-grams, Fraud Use/Positive Identifying Info # Items more than 10 but less than 50, Failure to Identify Fugitive Intent Give False ID, and violation of parole warrant out of Austin. He is held on $62,000 bonds for three of the charges. Bond has been denied for the violation of parole.
Cumby Man Arrested for Possession of Meth
Waylon Wade Underwood, 38 of Cumby was stopped for a minor traffic and seemed to be nervous to the observant Cumby police officer. Underwood was asked to exit the auto and during a pat down for a weapon, a glass pipe used for smoking methamphetamine fell from his left boot. A clear plastic baggy with a crystal-like substance believed to be methamphetamine was found in his right front pants pocket.
Underwood is in Hopkins County Jail charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance Penalty Group 1 under 1-gram and is being held on a $10,000 bond.
Wildcats Win on Last Night for Old Prim
The Wildcats’ football team is playoff bound after defeating Hallsville, 35-21 at old Prim Stadium on senior night Friday night.
Several bad things happened when Hallsville had to punt that led tremendously to their demise. There were two bad snaps in the first half and a blocked punt for a touchdown in the second half. Wildcats defensive end D’Idrec Dugan picked up a loose ball on one snap and rumbled deep into Bobcats territory and back Colton Allen scored on a short run to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead at the 10:07 mark of the second quarter. Later the Hallsville punter couldn’t handle a snap and the Wildcats recovered on the Bobcat one yard line. Several plays later, quarterback Ryan Humphries found receiver Austin Dodd in the end zone from four yards out to up the Wildcats lead to 28-0 with just over 2 minutes left before halftime. Late in the third quarter, when Hallsville was attempting to make a comeback, Dugan blocked a Bobcat punt in the end zone that Terrell Turman recovered for a touchdown. That gave the Wildcats a 35-7 lead with 1:13 left in third quarter. Hallsville scored two fourth quarter touchdowns but it wasn’t nearly enough as the Wildcats prevailed, 35-21.
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the game on their first possession covering 72 yards. Humphries got the score on a 2 yard run. In between a couple of Hallsville punting mishaps, the Wildcats also got a 45 yard touchdown pass from Humphries to receiver Landry Tyson. The Wildcats defense totally bottled up the Bobcats in the first half. Hallsville had negative offensive yards after the first two quarters.
With the victory, the Wildcats will now face Mesquite Poteet in a bi-district game next Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Lindale. The Wildcats are the district’s number two small school in the playoffs. The Wildcats improved to 4-6 overall and 3-3 in district play.
The Wildcats honored 17 of their seniors and ones in the band, cheerleading, drill team and student government before the game Friday night. The game also marked the final game for old Gerald Prim Stadium. Early Saturday, earth moving equipment is expected to begin the process of renovating the stadium, including installation of artificial turf. The project is expected to be finished in time for the start of the 2017 football season.
