City Council 2016-2017 Board and Commission Appointments
During the June Sulphur Springs City Council meeting Tuesday, June 7th, council made 2016-2017 Board and Commission Appointments. Those appointed to various boards and commissions include:
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Buck Booker, Craig Roberts, and Tory Humphries
ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: Matt Johnson and Joel Sheffield with Alternates: Brad Burgin and Ben Spraggins
AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD: Mark Meadows, Jerry Brewer, and Kurt Sehnert
SULPHUR RIVER MUNICIPAL WATER DISTRICT: Linda Galligher
LIBRARY BOARD: Sharon Burney and Kim Roberts
BOARD OF TOURISM AND PROMOTION: Lucy McCorkle, Harry Singh, and Sheryl Paden
CONSTRUCTION BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT AND APPEALS: Wayne Cooper and Gary Stribling with Alternates: Zack King and Charles Westbrook
PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION: Jake Caddell, Kelly Grimes, and Brandon Williams
ARK-TEX COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS: Emily Glass, John Sellers, and Clay Walker
DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION BOARD: Jennifer Massey, Phyllis Roundtree, and Mike Horne
REVOLVING LOAN FUND COMMITTEE: Jeff Fisher, Emily Glass, Craig Johnson, John Sellers, and Marc Maxwell
Pharmacy Technician and Other June Continuing Education Courses at PJC-Sulphur Springs Center
Several classes will be offered in June by the Paris Junior College – Sulphur Springs Center’s Continuing Education Department.
To sign up for a class or get more information, call 903-885-1232. The classes will be held on the campus located at1137 Loop 301 East in Sulphur Springs.
The Pharmacy Technician course will prepare students to enter the pharmacy field and take the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board PTCB exam. The class meets Mondays and Wednesdays, June 13-August 10, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Nurse Aide Skills Refresher is for any student wanting to refresh their Nurse Aide skills prior to their certification test. Students must register 48 hours in advance. The class is offered Thursday, June 16, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Medication Aide Update will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, June 17. The course fulfills Texas Department of Health specifications on annual renewal requirement. Med Aides should take this course one month before their certification card expires.
The Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers class on lifesaving skills for respiratory and cardiac emergencies will meet from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 24. The American Heart Association certifies the class.
Targeting third to sixth graders, Holiday Cookie Decorating will allow children to take home a dozen sugar cookies that they have creatively decorated. All supplies are included to allow children to learn decorating techniques while having lots of fun. Pre-registration one week in advance is required, with the class meeting from 1 to 3 p.m. on Friday, June 24.
North to Alaska! Last Minute Savings
Going on a Alaskan Cruise, through the Inside Passage, is pretty high on a lot of folk’s bucket list. For some, an Alaskan Cruise would be the Only cruise they would ever want to take. Fortunately, for those that can travel at the last minute, there are some super deals on Alaskan Cruises. The best one I found today, was a 7-night NCL cruise on the Norwegian Sun, starting $449 per person!! You can’t eat out 5 dinners for that, much less a week of food, lodging, and see the sights of Alaska!! Of course airfare is in addition to the cruise fare and there are some taxes involved, but I am finding great last minute deals on Alaskan Cruises. Start your search by using the following link:
$449 Cruise Deal Only a limited number of Cabins remain.
Winnsboro Police Department Activity May 30-June 5, 2016
Winnsboro Police Department made five arrests, responded to 150 calls for service, issued 50 citations and wrote 24 warnings during the seven day period May 30 through June 5, 2016.
Arrested were: Rebecca Sparks, 43, of Scroggins for Possession of controlled substance PG1 more than 1-gram but less than 4-grams; Stephen Pyron, 25, of Winnsboro on a Wood County warrant; Jennifer Blackford, 31, of Winnsboro on a Hopkins Count y warrant; James Kidd, 34, of Winnsboro for Public Intoxication; and Danny Sisco, 29 of Prescott Arkansas for Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, search or transportation.
Construction, Traffic Jams Cause Problems For Broadway Businesses
by Steven Payne
Construction is nearing completion on Gilmer street for the Schlotzsky’s Deli and Cafe, as well as the Hometown Auto Sales lot. Both have finished exterior building and pavement, lacking only interior work to each business. On the south side of the I-30 bridge on Broadway ground has been broken for a Starbucks which will be located next to Chili’s. Chili’s, who has been using the parking lot behind the restaurant on lease, will be losing that parking space to Starbucks once construction is done. Then there’s the traffic.
This construction, paired with the city crews that are working on the stretch of Bill Bradford Road which has been closed, has caused an increase in traffic flow on Broadway resulting in more traffic jams during the daylight hours. For businesses along Broadway, traffic jams can create difficulties for the business and consumers. For Walgreen’s Pharmacy, such traffic jams can create problems for customers already at the establishment when these jams begin to form. “It actually makes it difficult for customers to leave the store ,” Walgreen’s Assistant Store Manager Corrin Craig said. “They end up having to take the back way out onto the service road.”
During these traffic jams, Walgreen’s often receives complaints about drivers who drive through Walgreen’s too fast, resulting in cases of minor damage to parked cars. “We’ve had a couple of people have vehicles hit, and others hit as they were backing up,” Craig said.
Other establishments, such as Brooks Hearing & Speech Clinic, have also faced difficulties from traffic jams. The clinic, which regularly sees patients, often resorts to using Broadway Plaza’s secondary entrance for appointments. “Folks who are familiar with the area have no trouble, they’ll take the back way around if they know how to get here ,” Office Staff Member Lauren Strobelt said. “If we have patients coming from out of town, it does create a delay, especially if they’re coming off of I-30 and turning left into the plaza. I think that with the construction that’s going on currently, especially with the Schlotzsky and the reconstruction on Bill Bradford Road, it’s hard enough to get here. A lot of the congestion that’s in this area has occurred since they started that construction and closed down that street. It has caused an increase in traffic on Broadway.”
Broadway Autozone has also had to adapt to traffic jams, but only in a minor sense. Its customers can still access the store by a side street, but deliveries have a more difficult time reaching the store, often having to take detours down nearby neighborhoods to reach the business. Employees at both Walgreen’s and Autozone worry that the presence of a Starbucks on South Broadway will only make traffic jams worse in the future.
Businesses on the south side of the overpass also face issues caused by traffic jams. AT&T Authorized Retailer on South Broadway, while having seen an improvement in sales since moving from its location from Mockingbird road, sees regular traffic build-up every day. According to the Sulphur Springs location’s Store Manager, Employees and customers leaving the store are often forced to turn right toward Walmart and use Wildcat Way in order to make the trip home.
July Cruise Dates Scarce
In checking this week for a client on a Royal Caribbean Cruise leaving Galveston, we find that the July Dates are very slim and the few cabins that we found are double the price that we booked another client for a June Sailing Date. There is hope though, some of the August sailing dates on the same ship are becoming very reasonable. If you are looking for a VERY convenient cruise on a great ship, then check out the link below for pricing on RCCL’s Liberty of the Seas for August. You can drive to the port, and save airfare.
Liberty of the Seas August Sailings
There are also other cruise lines sailing out of Galveston, check out all of the options or email us at [email protected]
Bonner Guilty of Forgery
Tuesday at noon a Hopkins County Jury found John Henri Bonner, 47, guilty of Forgery of a Financial Instrument, a state jail felony. He will be sentence by the judge in two to three weeks.
Bonner has committed the act of forgery in at least two other counties in Texas. Assistant District Attorney Clay Harrison subpoenaed witnesses from those areas for testimony in the case.
Former SSHS Athletes Return to Teach and Coach in SSISD
Two former Sulphur Springs athletes have new positions with the SSISD after they were approved by the School Board Monday night.
Former Wildcats soccer player and distance runner Ross Hicks, who has been a PE teacher and coach at the Middle School, has been hired by Athletic Director Greg Owens as the Wildcats Cross Country Coach. Hicks will also be a Wildcats Soccer Assistant Coach and he be a Special Ed teacher at the High School. Coach Hicks will replace Andy Holt as Cross Country Coach. Coach Holt is headed for Frisco Wakeland where he will be their soccer coach. Coach Hicks will assist new Wildcats Soccer Coach Nicky Wiggins.
The board also approved Coach Owens’ hiring of former Lady Cats soccer player Macy Hurley to be a PE teacher and girls coach at the Middle school. After high school, Hurley player goaltender at UT Tyler.
SSISD Board Says “Good-Bye”; Steps toward the Future
When the Sulphur Springs School Board met Monday night, it was a time to say “good-bye” and a time to look to the future. Randy Reed was honored for his years of service in administration and the board heard reports regarding a teacher training experience being offered locally that could be expanded to include regional schools in the local summer training.
It was Reed’s last school board meeting. The Assistant Superintendent’s long career in education comes to a close in mid-month. However, in this final meeting with the board, Reed was honored by Superintendent Michael Lamb who introduced Reed’s grandchildren to lead the pledges to the United States and Texas flags. He also allowed the two to tell why they were glad their “Dandy” was retiring. Lamb also stated that the last four years had afforded an opportunity to learn much from Reed regarding the education system locally.
Reed stated “I enjoyed the relationships with board members and teachers.” He stated that he had “…missed the kids when he moved to administration.” He said administration is about relationships and he had enjoyed working with a quality board. This year’s board includes some who knew Reed as coach while in their own school experience. Don Sapaugh told Reed, “You handled a lot of difficult situations that people do not know about and you handled those things so well.”
Lisa Robinson provided information to the board regarding the Sulphur Springs Summer Learning Conference being held at the Sulphur Springs Middle School Wednesday through Friday of this week (June 8-10). Robinson stated that the conference focuses on teachers sharing with teachers and will serve to provide up to 12 hours of required training time. Over 200 teachers are attending the 115 sessions that are being provided. The conference is open only to local teachers but the district hopes to open the training to other school districts next year.
Don Roundtree gave an update on Civic Center auditorium renovation project. The first event to be held in the auditorium will be the Dairy Festival pageant on Saturday, June 18th. Roundtree stated that the previous week had provided several challenges due to weather but that workers had accomplished all but the final coat on the stage floor, had tuned the audio-visual system, and completed the carpet on the auditorium floor and the rubber floor on the accessibility ramps. Roundtree reported that Broadcast Works will operate the sound board for the Dairy Festival Pageant as a training for local workers.
Doug Whitt, SAMCO Capital Markets, Inc. reviewed the plan of finance and schedule of events for the sale and issuance of maintenance tax notes. Whitt told the board that interest rates are at an extreme low. He pointed out that maintenance tax notes of over $7.5 million could be paid off in 10 to 20 years. Interest rate is expected to be 2.75%. The local school district has an A-1 bond rating on Moody’s. On July 11th, the board will take bids for bonds and then vote that night in their summer board meeting. August 9th is closing date. Whitt told the local district that with a healthy tax rate, which the district currently has, a healthy future can be maintained at the current pace.
Kristin Monk reported on summer activities throughout the District including the YMCA program at the Sulphur Springs Elementary School. She told the board that 65 children are enrolled for a fee of $65 per week. This year the students will swim one day per week and go on a field trip one day each week.
The board set the 45 day contract release date for resignation notifications–July 7, 2016. They also approved an upgrade of security system at ECLC campus by Securadyne Systems, purchased a skid loader for the Maintenance Department from Holt CAT, and accepted a bid to repave the high school parking lot 5W Contracting. 5W Contracting was the only bid and it was lower than had been expected. The new parking lot will add 100 additional spaces for parking.
Personnel changes approved include:
Summer Contracts- due to mid-term hire date
David Hodges Network Systems Engineer Admin Bldg
Pam Tomany PPCD Teacher ECLC
Paula Hass Business/Marketing Teacher High School
Kaley Perry Science Teacher High School
David Westberry Math Teacher High School
Resignations
Angela Beaver Grade 4 Teacher SS Elementary
Jana Keith SpEd Resource Teacher SS Elementary
Lindsey Holt 6th Gr. ELAR Teacher Middle School
Kathy Froneberger Nurse High School
Kristi Rozell SpEd Teacher High School
Retirement-Lana Van Vleet Government Teacher High School
New Personnel
Kendra Daniel Part-time V.I. Teacher Special Services
Kodeann Crawford Grade 3 Teacher SS Elementary
Amanda Fowler Grade 3 Teacher SS Elementary
Barbara Henderson Title I Aide SS Elementary
Laura Owens Grade 3 Teacher SS Elementary
Cynthia Taylor Grade 3 Teacher SS Elementary
Sonya Mathews Grade 5 Teacher Douglas Intermediate
Janay Wood Secretary Douglas Intermediate
Deann Dickens Math Teacher Middle School
Brandy Fisher SpEd Aide Middle School
Macy Hurley PE/Girls Coach Middle School
Sue Ellen Hurley Science Teacher Middle School
Janlyn Therwanger ESL Aide Middle School
Mary Jenkins Counselor High School
Personnel Changes New position/campus Former position/campus
Cydney Williams V.I. Teacher/Special Services Part-time V.I. Teacher/Spec Serv
Misty Teer Literacy Support/ECLC Grade 1/Lamar
Catherine Gray Grade 2 Teacher/Bowie Grade 3 Teacher/SS Elementary
Colby Smith English Teacher/Middle School Grade 3 Teacher/SS Elementary
Ross Hicks SpEd Teacher & Coach/High School PE & Coach/Middle School
