Salute to Excellence: 2016 Awards Assembly Presents $1.5 million in Scholarships
Scholarships and Awards totaling near $1.5 million were handed out Thursday night at the 2016 Awards Assembly in the Sulphur Springs High School varsity gym. The annual awards night recognized academic and athletic achievements that garnered both monetary reward and state and regional recognition.
Top graduates were recognized including 23 students in the top 10% of their class and 16 students in the top 10% who participated in a UIL sanctioned activity. Sixty-two (62) SSHS students were A Honor Roll students throughout the year. Thirty-eight (38) students qualified and participated in state competitions including Business Professionals of America, UIL Academics, golf, powerlifting, cross country, FCCLA, FFA Lonestar Degree Recipients and one National Competitor in BPA, Economic Research, Dylan Joiner.
Athletic scholarships given amounted to $242,852. University of Mississippi, Lincoln Memorial University, Henderson State, and Louisiana Tech presented scholarships for golf, cross country, baseball and football. Mayra Zavalla and Scott Galarza received scholarships from the Tanner Higgins Memorial Scholarship for $250 each and from the U S Marine Corp for $200,000 each. Both are early commits to the Corp.
Several other graduating seniors received large scholarship amounts. Trenton Brock received two scholarships from SMU totaling $126,000. He also received a Texas A & M Commerce Honors College for $68,000. Logan McGraw received a total of $138,500 giving him the option of four school choices—UNT, A & M Commerce, Baylor, and UT-Tyler. Gillian Boyer received $79,900 in scholarships primarily focused on Dallas Baptist University. Austin Reyes received $55,000 from Texas A & M-Commerce.
The Awards Assembly will be featured on Friday, May 20th Channel 18 News and as a Suddenlink Channel 18 special presentation as part of our Salute to Excellence. Salute to Excellence is presented with the best wishes of Alliance Bank, Paris Junior College, GSC Inc/Grocery Supply, Brian Tolliver Ford Lincoln, Northeast Texas Farmers Coop, City National Bank, Hopkins/Rains Counties Farm Bureau, Super Handy Convenience Stores, Town and Country Cleaners, and Discount Wheel and Tire.
Tira News By Jan Vaughn
Tira News
By Jan Vaughn
Tira Mayor Floyd Payton has submitted his resignation, due to health issues. The City Council will meet on Tuesday, June 7th, at 6:30 p.m. at the Tira Community Center. They consider filling Mayor Payton’s position and appointing a new member to the council, to fill the vacancy, in addition to conducting their regular quarterly business. Martha Payton expects that Floyd will be able to come home from rehab by the end of the month. We want to wish them all the best.
William and Joyce Dodd celebrated Mother’s Day with lunch at their house. Michael McNiel came in from Richardson for the day. Rob Dodd, Brad, Tanya, and Matthew Dodd were there, also. Tonja (Dodd) Jones had to work that day.
Several end-of-year activities are coming up at North Hopkins School. High school graduation is scheduled for Saturday, June 4th, at 3:00 p.m. The 8th grade graduation will be held on Friday night, June 3rd. There will be a Baccalaureate service for the seniors on Sunday, May 29th at 6:00 p.m. “Round-Up Days” for Pre-K and Kindergarten will be going on from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on June 1st and 2nd. Parents and students are invited to visit the teachers and classrooms.
Our son, Delayne Vaughn, was here from Waco for the Mother’s Day weekend. He made my favorite caramel pies. On Sunday, Chip cooked lunch for our family, including his ever-popular homemade yeast rolls. His mother, Grace, joined us, along with our daughter, Tiffany, and our grandsons, Morgan, Kenden, and Jaidyn. Tiffany took Delayne, Jaidyn, and me to the Choral Society presentation in Sulphur Springs that afternoon, and Grace went to celebrate Mother’s Day with John and Linda Vaughn and their family. Landon, Laiken, Rylan, Brailon, and Slaiden were with Laiken’s mother, Leigh Ann, and her family for the holiday.
Tiffany Vaughn spent this past weekend with her friend, Stephanie Weaver, in McKinney over the weekend. They enjoyed visiting, shopping, eating out, and, most of all, attending a women’s conference on Saturday.
Jim and Sandra Vaughn, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, spent a few days in our area visiting with family last week. They had lunch with us on Sunday and Linda Ellen and Grace Vaughn, joined us, too.
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].
Deals Going to Vegas!
You can save big bucks by booking your hotel and flight at the same time to go to Las Vegas. Although Las Vegas has become a very popular destination for conventions, there are over 150,000 hotel rooms in the city and at certain times of the year, the room rates are very cheap. Couple that with so many flights from DFW to Las Vegas, and you can have a very cheap getaway. Use this link to find the best deals for your next trip to Las Vegas.
Flight/Hotel Deals to Las Vegas
Just enter DFW and LAS in the “from” and “to” fields along with your dates and see what the best deals may be. Keep in mind that sometimes when there are HUGE conventions in Las Vegas there will not be the best room rates.
Email us with any questions at [email protected]
Greenville PD Warns Area of IRS Scam
The Greenville Police Department has been informed of an IRS Scam where an individual claims to be an employee of the IRS, but they are not. The individuals call from various phone numbers.Producers Sell Over 5,000 Head of Cattle AT NETBIO Sale
BIDDING GOES ON A near capacity crowd attended the May NETBIO Pre-Conditioned Stocker and Feeder Calf sale at the Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission Wednesday. Above, co-owner and auctioneer Joe Don Pogue sells a lot of Brangus Heifers. The 607 weight Heifers sold for $200 a hundredweight.
Livestock producers from throughout Texas and neighboring states converged on the Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission Wednesday to market their cattle at the May Northeast Texas Beef Improvement pre-conditioned stocker and feeder calf sale.
Consignors shipped 5,162 head of calves and yearlings to the NETBIO sale that drew a big crowd of sellers, buyers and visitors.
“We had a lot of good cattle consigned to the sale and there was a lot of interest from the buyers — both those at the sale and some buying over the Internet,” said David Fowler, co-owner of the livestock commission. “The producers continued to do a great job of pre-conditioning and getting their cattle ready for this sale.”
Fowler said feedlots buyers were well represented, along with many buyers from throughout the region. “It was a very good offering of cattle and buyers recognized the excellent quality,” Fowler said.
The demand was very good for all weights of cattle as 32 buyers purchased the 5,162 head that went through the sale ring. They paid an average of $886.42 per head, a record for a May sale.
Once again the numbers of shippers (sellers) exceeded 200 — growing to 238 for this sale. At the same time, membership to the NETBIO pre-conditioning and marketing program continued to grow.
The NETBIO Pre-Conditioned Stocker and Feeder Calf Sale gives producers a market to offer their pre-conditioned calves and yearlings in load lot quantities. NETBIO holds seven pre-conditioned calf sales per year, which is the marketing arm for members of the organization.
The next sale will be held at the Sulphur Springs Livestock Commission on Wednesday, July 20. The weaning deadline for calves consigned to that sale is June 5. The last date for booster shots is June 20.
That sale will be followed by a sale on September 21, followed by the anniversary sale on November 16.
Commonplace Surgeries at Rural Hospitals are Safer, More Economical
Rural hospitals are facing the threat of closure but a recent study calls in question national policies that set medical and surgical rates for these hospitals. According to findings published in the May 17, 2016 Journal of the American Medical Association having a commonplace surgery may be safer when done in a rural hospital compared to a suburban or city hospital. The research reviewed 1.6 million surgeries performed at 828 rural hospitals and at 3,600 larger hospitals. Gallbladder removal, colon surgery, hernia repair and appendix removal were the focus of the study.
Rural hospitals, called critical assess hospitals because of their proximity for millions of patients living outside major cities and suburban areas, were found to be safe and cost-effective according to Dr. Tyler Hughes, author of the study. The study points out that there is no difference between hospitals for risk of dying within 30 days of an operation. The risk of developing major complications such as heart attack, pneumonia, or kidney damage after surgery was lower at the rural hospitals.
Also patients at rural hospitals are also less likely to use skilled nursing facilities after their operations. Patients in rural hospitals tend to be healthier than those treated at larger hospitals. The study says this suggests that rural doctors select low-risk surgical patients and send more complicated cases to larger medical centers.
Rural hospitals are also aided by the fact that critical access hospitals are paid 101% of reasonable costs by Medicare and doctors who practice at these hospitals receive 115% of the usual payment for traditional Medicare patients. However, according to CEO Michael McAndrew for Hopkins County Memorial, which is not a critical care hospital, the payments made by Medicare to the local hospital are less. He pointed out that wages for local staff are significantly lower than hospitals in larger, nearby cities. Yet, the local general surgeon, Scott McDearmont, left a big city practice for the better lifestyle found locally. The cardiology group that practices here also practices at Baylor Medical Center in the metroplex. McAndrew reminds that the ER doctors at Memorial also practice at CHRISTUS Trinity-Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler. He affirms that local doctors are well equipped to give large city quality care locally.
Primary Run-off Early Voting Continues Through Friday
Hopkins County early voting numbers are running near normal for a run-off Primary Election according to County Clerk Debbie Shirley. Through Thursday at 10:33 a.m., 239 Republicans and Democrats have cast ballots. Early voting continues through Friday 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the SSISD Administration Board Room on Connelly Street. Texas voters return to the polls May 24th 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. to cast ballots in the run-off election.
Democrats have only one decision to make and that is for Railroad Commissioner. Grady Yarbrough and Cody Garrett are on the ballot. Local interest in the Primary Run-off favors the Republican voters. In Hopkins County, a run-off for Commissioners Precinct 1 will determine not only the Republican nominee for the place but also the ultimate winner. No democrat has filed. Also on the Republican ballot will be District 9 for the Texas Education Board.
Also on the Republican ballot are Railroad Commissioner, Wayne Christian versus Gary Gates; Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 2, Ray Wheless and Mary Lou Keel; and Court of Appeals, Place 5, Brent Webster versus Scott Walker.
The run-off election will continue to tie the voter to the party in which they voted in the primary. One cannot cross over from Democrat to Republican or Republican to Democrat in the primary run-off. General Elections are open for cross over votes. However, in one local run-off election the May 24th vote will settle the matter.
Locally, Maci Mattison Newsom and Mickey Barker are seeking the commissioner’s seat. Precinct 1 voters will focus not only on the administrative work of the commissioner and their work as a member of Commissioners’ Court, the governing body for budgets, etc. in the county, they, especially rural voters, will also be taking a hard look at the care of county roads. Precinct 1 had been hard hit by flooding roadways thanks to unprecedented rainfall during the previous 14 months. Precinct 1 is the recipient of the larger amount of FEMA funds granted the county for road repair. Not only overseeing the funds but also fixing the roads will be in the forethought of voters.
Those living in the city of Sulphur Springs may not be as well versed in the conditions of county roads in the precinct as are their rural neighbors. However, the road situation has been well publicized and could easily influence of all voters.
One of the state contests centers on the State Board of Education, District 9. Keven Ellis, 45, Lufkin ISD School Board President, and Mary Lou Bruner, 69, a retired teacher are seeking the seat. The state board sets curriculum standards and approves textbooks for 5.2 million Texas school children. The Dallas Morning News endorsed Ellis earlier this week.
In endorsing Ellis, who calls himself a conservative Republican, the Morning News pointed to his work on the Lufkin board and his youngest son is a high school student. They also highlighted his desire to empower local districts to meet community needs.
Bruner on the other hand is described as on who has a pattern of absurdity including the idea that the Democratic Party had President John F. Kennedy killed.
Sulphur Springs Superintendent of Schools, Mike Lamb, supports Ellis. Lamb says Ellis is “…well in tuned to issues of schools today…” Lamb listened to dialog given by Bruner at a Region 7 meeting and says her ideas “…do not fit issues schools today.” Lamb said, “Ellis is better for us.”
Animals of the Week: The Brady Bunch
Alice
The Brady Bunch consists of pure-blooded Heeler Alice and her puppies: Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marsha, and Jan. Alice is two years old while her puppies are two and a half months old. “The Sheriff’s Department brought in Alice and her six babies who are named after the “Brady Bunch” kids since there are three male and three female,” Animal Shelter Officer Barbi Blanch said. “Somebody had found them out in the county and tried to keep them, but eventually one of the Sheriff’s guys brought them in.”
The puppy named Cindy has already been adopted, leaving Alice with two female and three male left. Alice is friendly and gentle while her puppies are energetic and playful. The Shelter has been unable to determine if Alice is properly trained due to their limited time and resources at maximum capacity. “She probably needs a little bit of leash training, but she does pretty good when put on leash,” Officer Blanch said. “But she does a lot better off the leash.”
Alice and her puppies have been at the Shelter for a week. She is usually kept with her children when inside the Shelter and is normally in a cage with the two youngest puppies. “I don’t know what her puppies are mixed with and you can definitely see Heeler markings, but they’re going to be a lot bigger than her,” Office Blanch said. “They play a lot, which is why they get the outside pen so they can run and play.”
Alice and her five puppies can be adopted separately. In other news, the Animal Shelter currently has an issue of an overpopulation of black cats and dogs. They recently received a litter of black kittens and they outside kennels consist entirely of black canines. “There is a ‘black dog, black cat’ syndrome that because they’re plain black animals, a lot of people don’t want them,” Officer Blanch said. “There’s nothing wrong with these animals, they’re just as loving and some of them are more beautiful than multi-colored animals. You can ask any shelter, there’s a ‘black dog’ syndrome.”
Black Dog Syndrome
