Incorrect Information on Social Media Spurs Symphony League Response: No Tax Money Used in Concert/Fireworks Event
On the 25th Anniversary of the Independence Day Concert, misconceptions have filled Facebook with an inaccurate report that has stirred the ire of many. Questions regarding tax dollars used for the concert have been raised. Linda Galligher, President of the Sulphur Springs Symphony League, stated that the cost of the concert, approximately $30,000, is funded by sponsors, Alliance Bank and Grocery Supply, and an annual live auction broadcast on KSST Radio, ksstradio.com, and Suddenlink Cable Channel 18. No city funds are expended to pay for the concert and/or fireworks. The city does set up the stage and there is a police presence during the event but that is the extent of city expenditures, according to Galligher. Using professional musicians, these are also paid by the league.
She stated that this was one of the largest, if not the largest attended concert yet. Merchants around Celebration Plaza told Galligher that a large number of out of town visitors had made purchases and dropped into their shops or restaurants prior to the concert.
Children Test Positive for Methamphetamine; CPS, SCU Working a Number of Injury to a Child Cases
Sulphur Springs Special Crimes Unit working with Child Protective Services has made arrests following in-depth investigations into at least five children testing positive for methamphetamine. The children were in homes where parents were using the controlled substance. According to SCU officers CPS often initiates this type of investigation but SCU treat these as a top priority when the investigation is forwarded to them. According to SCU, there are more cases being investigated at this time and other warrants are expected.
Arrests were made in two separate cases Wednesday:
Holly Ann York Allen, 34, is in Hopkins County Jail charged with two counts of injury to a child following an investigation by Child Protective Services and the Sulphur Springs Special Crimes Unit. Allen was arrested on a warrant Wednesday. Her two children, ages one (1) and three (3) tested positive for methamphetamine. She also violated her probation for manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, penalty group 1 under 1-gram in a drug free zone.
In a separate case, Cody Blaine Gregg, 28, of Como, is in Hopkins County Jail charged with injury to a child with intent of bodily harm after a one (1) year old child in his custody tested positive for methamphetamine on June 28. After a lengthy investigation by CPS, the case was forwarded to SCU. A felony warrant was issued for Gregg and for the mother of the child who had checked herself into a drug rehabilitation program in Dallas. She will turn herself in when out of rehab.
Vance Receives National FFA Built Ford Tough Scholarship
Cody Vance of Sulphur Bluff High School FFA was awarded a $1,000 Built Ford Tough scholarship by the National FFA Organization. The scholarship is sponsored by Brian Toliver Ford Lincoln as a special project of the National FFA Foundation. Vance plans to use the funds to pursue a degree at Sam Houston State University.
Vance was chosen, along with 1819 others, from among 8,383 applicants from across the country. His selection was based on his leadership, academic record, FFA and other school and community activities, supervised agricultural or work experience in agricultural education and future goals.
The scholarship is one of 1,820 awarded through the National FFA Organization’s scholarship program this year. Currently, 116 sponsors contribute more than $2.6 million to support scholarships for students. For 32 years, scholarships have been made available through funding secured by the National FFA Foundation. Funding comes from individuals, businesses and corporate sponsors to encourage excellence and enable students to pursue their educational goals.
Agrilife: Dealing With Heat Stress
Many Texans work under hot, humid conditions. Summer heat is a particular hazard to agricultural producers
who work long hours under the sun. However, other people working in hot yards, gardens, kitchens or industry jobs are also exposed to these conditions.
According to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, a hot work environment can impair safety and health. Both workers and their employers are responsible for taking steps to prevent heat stress in the workplace. Humans are warm-blooded, which means they maintain a fairly constant internal body temperature regardless of external conditions. Under moderate conditions, the brain automatically balances body heat by monitoring the warmth of the blood. However, when blood temperature exceeds 98.6 degrees F, the brain automatically takes measures to lower it. The heart pumps more blood; blood vessels expand to accommodate the increased flow; and blood begins to flow through bundles of microscopic blood vessels (capillaries) in the skin. As the blood circulates closer to the surface of the skin, excess heat is transferred to the cooler atmosphere. When the air temperature is as warm as or warmer than the skin, blood brought to the body surface cannot shed its heat to cool the body. At that point, the brain signals the sweat glands to shed fluid in the form of perspiration, which in turn cools the body as it evaporates from the skin. In humid conditions, cooling the body by sweating is more difficult because high humidity slows evaporation. Wiping sweat from the skin with a cloth also prevents cooling from evaporation. In hot, humid conditions, hard work becomes harder. The sweat glands release moisture and essential chemical compounds such as salt onto the skin. Circulatory vessels enlarge, and the heart pumps quickly to cool the blood by forcing it close to the surface. That means less blood goes to the muscles. As a result, strength declines and physical and mental fatigue sets in.
Safety Problems
Certain safety problems are common in hot working conditions. Slippery, sweaty hands, dizziness and fogged safety glasses can cause workers to hurt themselves or others. They can also be burned by accidental contact with hot objects and surfaces in these environments. Workers and supervisors alike must protect themselves from heat-induced irritability, carelessness and distraction, which can impair their physical and mental performance.
Excessive exposure to a hot environment can bring about several physical disorders, including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, fainting, heat rash and momentary or transient heat fatigue. Heat stroke is the most serious heat-related disorder and occurs when the heat-regulating system breaks down under stress and sweating stops. This condition can occur with little warning and robs the body of its most effective means of shedding excess heat. A heat stroke victim’s skin is hot, dry and usually red or spotted, and the body temperature is 105 degrees F or higher. The person is confused and irritable and may complain of chills. If the victim is not cooled soon, unconsciousness, delirium and convulsions will occur and can lead to death. When heat stroke is suspected, summon an ambulance immediately. Move the worker to a cool area and thoroughly soak his or her clothes with water. Fan the body vigorously to increase evaporation and cooling, and monitor the worker’s condition until medical professionals arrive. Recognizing and treating heat stroke is the only way to prevent permanent brain damage or death. Workers who are physically fit and acclimated can tolerate heat best, but no one is immune to heat stroke.
Chronic disease, obesity, alcoholism and a history of heat illness are all risk factors for heat stroke. Heat exhaustion is caused by loss of fluid in sweating, loss of salt, or both. A worker with heat exhaustion still sweats, but experiences extreme weakness, fatigue, giddiness, nausea or headache. In serious cases, the victim may vomit or lose consciousness. The skin is clammy and moist, the complexion is pale or flushed, and the body temperature is normal or slightly higher. Workers who are obese or unaccustomed to the heat are prone to heat exhaustion. In most cases, treatment is simple: Have the victim rest in a cool place and provide plenty of lightly salted liquids. This treatment will resolve most cases of heat exhaustion, though severe cases may require care for several days. There are no known permanent effects.
Caution: people with heart problems or low-sodium diets should consult a physician in these cases. Heat cramps are painful muscle spasms caused by losing salt in perspiration. Workers who drink much water but do not replace salt are prone to heat cramps because drinking water dilutes the body’s fluids, without replacing salt. Soon, the low salt in the muscles will cause painful cramps in the arms, legs or abdomen. Cramps can occur during or after work hours and may be relieved by drinking one glass of water containing 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Caution: people with heart problems or on low-sodium diets should consult a physician about this condition.
Fainting. A worker who stands still in the heat may simply black out. Under these conditions, blood pools in the enlarged blood vessels near the skin and in the lower part of the body rather than returning to the heart to be pumped to the brain. Once lying down, the worker should soon recover as circulation to the brain improves. To avoid further fainting, have the worker move around to maintain good circulation.
Heat rash, or prickly heat, occurs in humid environments where sweat does not evaporate easily. Perspiration may plug sweat ducts and cause inflammation that becomes a rash. Discomfort from severe or infected prickly heat can reduce a worker’s performance. Resting in a cool place at regular intervals and taking periodic showers will help workers avoid this condition. Momentary or transient heat fatigue is marked by discomfort and mental strain because of prolonged exposure to heat. Workers can lose coordination and alertness and/or become irritable and depressed.
Unacclimated workers are particularly susceptible; gradual adjustment to the hot environment will help such workers cope with heat fatigue. Under normal circumstances, workers can adjust to hot working conditions in about a week. On the first day of work in a hot environment, the body temperature, pulse rate and general discomfort will increase, then gradually decrease each day. Once the body adjusts,the worker should be able to work with less strain and distress. Heat disorders are more likely among workers who have not been given time to adjust to working in the heat or those who have been away from hot conditions. Do not ignore conditions that produce heat stress or try to tolerate its symptoms.
Heat stress depends, in part, on the amount of heat a person’s body produces. Hard, steady work produces more heat than does light work. To reduce heat stress on the job:
• Temporarily make the work easier
• Decrease the speed at which the work is performed
• Increase the number or duration of rest periods. Reduce exposure to heat. Distribute the workload evenly by breaking long work periods into shorter work rest cycles. Short rest periods throughout the day allow the body to get rid of excess heat and slow the production of internal body heat. When heat and humidity are high:
• Postpone nonessential work
• Hire extra workers to spread the workload, but allow them time to acclimate
• Use younger or more physically fit workers where needed
Provide a rest area. Because periodic rest in a cool place reduces heat stress, the rest area should be close enough to the workplace to allow for effective
breaks. Short, frequent breaks are the most beneficial and should be increased as temperature rises. Provide plenty of drinking water. During a day’s work an employee may sweat away as much as 3 gallons of fluid and the salt it contains. To avoid common heat disorders, workers must replace the water and salt they lose
during the day. A worker should not depend on thirst to signal when and how much to drink because thirst is satisfied before the body’s water requirements are
met. Instead, he or she should drink more than enough fluids to satisfy thirst every 15 to 20 minutes. The water should be 50 to 60 degrees F, palatable and convenient to the work area.
Mario Villarino DVM, Ph.D.
Hopkins County Extension Agent for Ag and NR
1200B Houston Street
Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482
903-885-3443
Animal of the Week: Snoopy, “Pets” Movie Special
Snoopy is a one-year-old Border Collie\Australian Shepard mix, but Animal Shelter Officers speculate that he may have some Husky in him as well. Snoopy was surrendered by his owner on Hodge ST three months ago after the landlord told the tenant that he had to give up some of his animals. Snoopy is heart worm negative and will receive his rabies shot this weekend. He understands basic commands such as “sit,” but lacks proper training. “He is playful and seems to get along with just about everybody,” Animal Shelter Officer Barbi Blanch said. “He’s pretty submissive, so he doesn’t want to be an aggressor. Gracie [the Shelter mascot] actually likes him. He just wants attention and loves the attention.”
Snoopy will be involved in one of two offsite adoptions set to take place this weekend. The first is at Atwoods from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. while the other will be at the Sulphur Springs Trans Texas Cinema from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The theater off-site is part of a special which coincides with the release of the animated movie “Pets.” “We want to promote Shelter animals and the Theater thought it would be a nice idea because of the movie,” Officer Blanch said. “Usually when one of these types of movies comes out, everybody’s like ‘oh we have to get one of those.’ That is not the way to do it because it’s usually some pure-bread that they don’t know anything about, or like Dory the fish. Those are not easy to take care of, and people don’t realize what it takes to take care of specific breeds, but Shelter dogs are always just looking for a happy home.”
The Shelter is hoping for a good turnout with the theater special. According to Officer Blanch, the summer time always shows a decrease in adoption rates due to vacation, family events, weddings, and other events that typically happen during the summer.”We’ve still had some good adoptions, considering that we were packed,” Officer Blanch said. “They picked up a bit, but right now it’s just one here and one there.”
Ways To Keep Your Poultry Cool All Summer!
Summer time is here and it’s getting insanely hot outside. It’s time to start thinking about your little two-legged friends.
Starting off there is many ways you can tell that your Poultry is getting to hot. For Example: Walking around with their beaks wide open, eating little amounts of food, slow egg production, and laying on the ground with their wings spread out. Try to prevent these ways from happening using the following tips on how to keep your poultry cool all summer long.
The easiest thing to do for starters would be to spread out many different water sources around the yard/house to make sure they have as many opportunities to get water when needed. Also adding ice cubes wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Once you have provided many water sources you can also feed them frozen foods such as, watermelon, bananas, strawberries, grapes etc. But be sure that before or after freezing to smash-up the fruits where the chickens won’t have a hard time eating it. Be sure that your poultry have some place that they can get out of the heat any time they please.
If the previous tips are not working for you then you can try getting a misting attachment for your water hose. If the misting attachment doesn’t work out for you, try getting a baby pool and fill it up 1/4 of the way with water. This gives them the opportunity for a drink and to hop in and get their legs cooled off. Make sure that the water isn’t to deep. Just a few inches is plenty for them.
There is many ways to help cool down your feathered friends, hopefully these tips will help.
Sulphur Springs City Manager’s Report
TO: CITY COUNCIL
FROM: CITY MANAGER, MARC MAXWELL
SUBJ: MANAGER’S REPORT
STREETS, WATER AND SEWER – The water line is installed on Bill Bradford Road all the way to Como Street. Construction will continue to the southeast until we tie into an existing line just beyond the Saputo employee parking driveway. That’s about 300 more feet. The sewer main lacks 700 feet to be completed; 500 feet between Carter and Elm, and 200 feet at the far southeast end. We have completed the underground drainage system which extends from Carter to Tennessee and then southward toward South Town Branch. Atmos is also replacing its gas main in the street.
DAVIS/TOMLINSON PARKING LOT – The Tesla charging station portion of the project is complete. Work will continue from south to north.
JEFFERSON STREET PARKING LOT – The weather has held this project up. This is a County project at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Rosemont. The new lot will have 77 spaces. The County is constructing the lot in concrete and the City is installing lights and landscaping per our earlier agreement at the time the tax increment reinvestment zone was created. When the County opted into the zone, the City committed to beautification of the lot when it was built.
AIRPORT FUEL FARM – We are in the process of removing the underground AvGas and JetA fuel tanks and replacing them with above ground tanks and associated pumps and controls. The total project cost is about $630,000. You may recall that the original engineering estimate was $1.2 million. By breaking the bid up into its component parts and acting as prime contractor, we were able to cut the cost in half. The AvGas tank has been removed and the concrete foundation for the new tank has been poured. There does not appear to have been any leakage from the tank. We are waiting for soil samples to confirm.
CLAIMS – We received one liability claim for a sewer back-up in June. There were no workers’ compensation claims in June.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT – Total suspended solids (TSS) came in at 1.59 mg/L, well within the limit of 10 mg/L.
REVENUES AND EXPENDITURES – Finance Director Peter Karstens will present a year-to-date summary of revenues and expenditures.
Elsewhere around the city, employees:
- Repaired aerator at the wastewater treatment plant.
- Made electrical repairs to the Celebration Plaza fountain and landscape lighting.
- Repaired 2 air conditioners at city buildings and performed preventative maintenance on multiple units.
- Performed preventative maintenance on multiple items at the wastewater treatment plant.
- Checked out 4,909 items at the Library, up 19% from last year.
- Repaired 3 water line ruptures and replaced 11 water meters.
- Repaired 2 sewer mains and unstopped 19.
- Installed 3 water taps and one sewer tap.
- Flushed 36 dead end water mains.
- Made repairs on Cooper Lake raw water pumps.
- Opened flood gates at Lake Sulphur Springs once.
- Treated 117 million gallons of potable water.
- Responded to 209 animal control calls, and achieved a 51% adoption rate.
- Made 96 arrests including 10 in the Special Crimes Unit, recorded 76 offences, wrote 494 traffic citations, and responded to 37 accidents.
- Conducted 36 building inspections, 12 electrical inspections, 11 plumbing inspections, 3 mechanical inspections and issued 22 building permits.
- Responded to 127 fire/rescue calls including 4 structure fires.
- Performed preventative maintenance on 92 fire hydrants.
- Wrote 70 pre-fire plans.
- Conducted 70 fire safety inspections.
- Patched 494 potholes.
- Made 10 street repairs following utility work (including Atmos).
- Cleaned storm drains and catch basins.
- Cleaned the veterans’ memorial fountain.
- Fertilized athletic fields.
- Cleaned T-Bone Alley.
- Mowed, mowed and mowed some more.
City Council Approves First Reading of Rezoning Ordinance; Hears Holiday Drive Concerns
Although the Planning and Zoning Board turned down a request to rezone 1326 West Avenue from single family to light commercial, the Sulphur Springs City Council approved the first reading of the rezoning ordinance that will allow the change during their July meeting Tuesday night. The approval came after a 25 minute discussion. The council also approved a resolution directing publication of a notice of intention to issue combination tax and surplus revenue certificates of obligation.
Local Attorney Greg Price addressed the council regarding the rezoning of the West Avenue property. He plans to build a landscaped parking lot at the location behind his current offices. Price pointed out that a large number of the West Avenue properties were rental properties and the value of the location for a home had been greatly diminished. He stated that most of the property owners were simply waiting for the street, located one block off Broadway to be zoned commercial so the land would increase in value. Price also said that no major improvements had been made or new home built along the street in over 30 years.
Tim Kelty, local realtor, pointed out that lots across Joyce Lane from the property were zoned commercial.
Judy Brown, owner of the property said that she had been trying to sell the property for the last two years. She said the houses around are rentals and the area is unsightly due to commercial properties behind the property and renters along the street not staying any length of time.
In other action, the council approved the purchase of two trucks from Bryan Toliver Ford, who could deliver the trucks in five days, and appointed Carol Gee to the library board.
Kelty, returned to the lectern during public forum to address the council regarding notices received by property owners along Holiday Drive. The notices from the city required property owners to mow and remove limbs from the ditches along Holiday. Kelty stated that the city had maintained the area until two years ago and he was not clear on why that had changed. He stated that when built, Holiday Drive and the ditches along the drive were built to conduct water from Interstate 30 to county creeks. 
Failure to Place Children in Seatbealts and Marijuana in Auto Lead to Arrest of Arlington Man
A 28-year old Arlington man is in Hopkins County Jail following a traffic stop for a non-functioning license plate light Tuesday night. When the Hopkins County Sheriff’s deputy approached the auto, a strong smell of marijuana came from the interior of the vehicle. In the vehicle were four children under the age of 8 not wearing seatbelts and an adult female passenger. Two smoked marijuana cigarettes were in the front portion of the vehicle and other drug paraphernalia.
