*UPDATE* Location Change For Softball Games
The Sulphur Springs High School Varsity and Junior Varsity softball games against Hallsville that were originally scheduled to be played in Sulphur Springs on Thursday night have been relocated to the Hallsville softball fields due to poor field conditions at Ladycat Park as a result of heavy rain received overnight. The Junior Varsity Blue Team will play at 4:30 p.m. and the Varsity game will start at 6 p.m..
For those who are planning to attend tonight’s games:
-Hallsville’s Ladycat Softball Complex is located behind the high school football stadium on Bobcat Lane in Hallsville, Texas.
-Here is a link to Google Maps directions from Sulphur Springs: DIRECTIONS
KSST 1230 AM will not broadcast the varsity game tonight.
Business History Month: Blacklands Railroad
Wayne Defebaugh
Blacklands Railroad started in 1999 by Wayne Defebaugh who opened the business after the state-owned railroad running through Sulphur Springs was looking to be abandoned and needed an operator. He quickly leased the track and began his shortline railroad in the middle of the town. He owns the locomotives and provides the crews to work the railroad. “My father was retired from the railroad as a conductor out of Kansas City,” Defebaugh said. “I went to college, got a degree, and decided I wanted to do something on my own. In ’99 I just took kind of a flying leap and started up the company, Blacklands Railroad, and we moved out here and started up the business. It was just me and one other person, and it was pretty much from the bootstraps up. It was our savings and our credits cards to start us off, and we just built it up from there.”
Originally, Blacklands only saw a couple of hundred rail cars pass through its station. Now, over 4,000 cars pass through the Sulphur Springs Blacklands station each year. “We interchange cars with Union Pacific and others here in Sulphur Springs, and what that means is is that has cars on our railroad can ship them anywhere in the country,” Defebaugh said. “They can go from here to California or New York City or wherever the customer wants their product to go or come in from. We only run from Mount Pleasant to Greenville, and at the end of Mount Pleasant we give those cars to Union Pacific who can then take them anywhere.”
Blacklands is a freight railroad, meaning they do not transport passengers. Blacklands primarily transports commodities and other shipments to and from the Sulphur Springs area for local and distant industries and businesses. “One of our big customers is ‘Custom Commoditites’ who does all of the trucking for us,” Defebaugh said. “They can take plastic, for instance, out of the rail cars and take it down to Hawkins, which is a large water-bottling plant, and they make bottles out of the plastic. So if you get a bottle in East Texas, it’ll tell you if it’s been bottled in East Texas, so we supplied the plastic to that plant to make that bottle.”
Blacklands also supplies products for the East Texas Farmer’s Co-Op as well as ship to Greenville and Mount Vernon. Defebaugh employes 20 workers across three operations in Sulphur Springs, Henderson, and Odessa. “We have two office personnel and most of our employees are trainmen, who are either engineers or conductors that operate the trains,” Defebaugh said. “We also have people that fix the track, known as track-men. They keep the tracks going and maintaining the rails. The people we hire are intricately involved, either from an operating standpoint or a maintenance standpoint.”
Blacklands Railroad won “Shortline Railroad of the Year” in 2011 in the Railway Age magazine and was awarded in 2014 by Trains magazine the “Jake Award” for being accident free every year since its inception.
Call 1-903-439-0738
[email protected].
www.blacklandsrailroad.com
Severe Thunderstorm Warning Until Midnight
Severe Thunderstorm warning for western and central Hopkins County, southwestern Delta County, and Hunt County until midnight. Radar indicates a severe thunderstorm capable of 70 mph winds and hail the size of ping pong balls, according to the National Weather Service.
“Updated” Severe Thunderstorm Watch for Hopkins and Surrounding Counties Until 4 AM
The thunderstorm watch for Hopkins county has been extended until 4 a.m. Thursday morning.
Earlier this evening, The National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until midnight Wednesday night for 27 counties in North Central Texas. Hopkins County and surrounding counties are included in the watch area.
At the time of the watch issued, radar showed a line of thunderstorms stretching from Forestburg, Texas, north of Decatur, into Oklahoma as a cold front makes its way across the area. Currently, that line of thunderstorms is nearing Hunt County as it passes through Collin County. Large hail resulted in Tarrant and Collin Counties as a result of the storm line. The intensity of the storms did seem to be decreasing as the storms moved east.
A thunderstorm watch means that conditions are present to create storms with damaging wind, hail, and heavy rain. It does not mean that such storms are present at this time.
KSST will monitor radar and broadcast any severe weather in the area.
Lady Cats Golf Previews District Course
The Lady Cats’ golf team got a preview of the course where their district meet will be held on April 4-5. I’m sure the Lady Cats hope the wind will not be blowing as strongly at the Rockwall Golf and Athletic Club in April as it did Tuesday. Lady Cats Golf Coach Chris Owens said his team struggled in the tough wind. The team recorded a 455 score. Jessie Ash shot 96, Alissa Sotelo and Morgan Landers had 114 each and Emma Lane shot 131. With no more tournaments on the schedule before district, the Lady Cats will spend time practicing.
Coach Owens said it was important for the Lady Cats to play a round on the course where the district meet will be held. He too is hoping for less wind in early April.
Animal of the Week: Mufasa
Mufasa
Mufasa is a male long-haired cat of roughly 2-4 years of age. He is currently the only cat at the Animal Shelter.”Somebody found him running around on Whitworth ST, which is a pretty busy road,” Animal Shelter Officer Barbi Blanch said. “They decided to bring him here before he got hit by a car. He’s very sweet and he gets into everything.”
Based on Mufasa’s interactions with humans and dogs, Shelter Officers believe that the cat had once lived in a household with other dogs before being abandoned by his previous owners. No one has yet come to claim the cat. “He doesn’t like being in his cage,” Officer Blanch said. “He likes running around, and normally during the day — even when I’m not here — he just wanders. He’ll walk through the Shelter and up to all of the dogs. He’ll sit in the office chair if you’re in there, and if you’re trying to do paperwork, he’s all in your business.”
Aside from the more aggressively playful dogs, Mufasa has had no issues around dogs of any size. Even some dogs that tower over him do little to intimidate or scare him. “[Officer Patridge’s] dog, Gracie, was here once and Mufasa just ran up to her and butted her in the head,” Officer Blanch said. “He doesn’t have any fear of any dog. We’ve had a big, huge one that’s been allowed outside during the day, and every time I bring him in, Mufasa’s sitting at the door and he looks at the dog like, ‘whatever, see you later’.”
There will be no off-site adoption this weekend, but the Shelter will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.
In other news, construction began yesterday on the five outdoor kennel runs for the Shelter’s animals so they may enjoy the outdoors more safely. The concrete groundwork has already been completed and poles inserted, and work on the sidewalk leading to the entrance of the Shelter has begun. “The current cage in the back is not geared for little puppies,” Officer Blanch said. “They can get into stuff back there, and they can get out of the gate. They just finished the concrete around where the kennels are going to be, and then we have somebody else that’s going to come up and the fencing in.”
Health Fair at Dinner Bell
Memorial Clinic and Cooper Health Care partnered to conduct a Health Fair at Wednesday’s Dinner Bell at First United Methodist Church. Stations for blood pressure and other vital signs along with a blood draw for cholesterol, thyroid, and other basic testing were offered to those attending.
Brad Burgin, Outreach Coordinator for Memorial Clinic, said the partnership is just one of the many partnerships with other Health Care providers that enabled the clinic and doctors to reach out to the needs of the community. Burgin said the clinic intends to continue to boost its influence in the community. He stated that providing the free service would enable those tested to know any underlying issues that could enable the prevention of long-term health concerns.
Cumby’s Bailey Braddock Places First as State Champion Powerlifter in Her Weight Class
Bailey Braddock, Cumby Senior Powerlifter, placed first in state in her weight class. Braddock and her team mates placed seventh as a team. Braddock lifted a total of 900 lbs to take the title in the 165 Weight Class. She has competed in powerlifting since the 8th grade.
Braddock is an all-around student-athlete at Cumby. She is a cheerleader, catcher for the softball team, volleyball, She did not play basketball this past season to commit her time to powerlifting.
Following are the Weight Class and state ranking for Braddock and her teammates, a slide show of photos from the state meet, and the video interview with Braddock:
Another 10-Run Rule Win for Wildcats; Follis Strikes Out 9 Lions
The Wildcats’ baseball team hammered out 16 hits and scored 13 second inning runs in a 17-0 shutout of Greenville on the road Tuesday night. It was the Wildcats second straight win by the ten run rule.
Wildcats ace Tyler Follis also threw a no-hitter shutting out the Lions over five inning. He also had 9 strikeouts. Wildcats batting stars were numerous. Triston McCormack drove in five runs with two singles and a sacrifice fly. Heston Golightly hit a double and triple and drove in 2 runs. Mason Buck plated two runs with a triple. Kyle Dodd had a three hit night. Cole Cooper had two hits including a triple. The Wildcats also benefited from six Lions’ errors.
The road win improves the Wildcats district record to 2-1. Their season record is now 5-6-1. The Wildcats travel to Hallsville Thursday for a 7 p.m. game against the Bobcats.
Lady Cats Down Greenville; Host Hallsville Thursday
Although Greenville made things interesting with four runs in the top of the seventh inning, the Lady Cats’ softball team hung on for a 7-4 victory at Lady Cat Park Tuesday night.
Molly Johnston hit a two-run home run to break a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning. Alyssa Abron drove home the Lady Cats third run in the second inning with a sharp single. Kristen Allen made it 4-0 in the third inning with a long home run to left center field. The Lady Cats utilized two Greenville errors to add a fifth run in the fourth inning. The Lady Cats added two more runs in the fifth inning when Sadie Stroud singled, Kelsey Wallace doubled to drive Stroud in and Hannah Crowson singled driving Wallace in. The Lady Cats had 11 hits in all.
Landri Bell got the pitching win allowing no runs and only 2 hits for the first three innings. Bricklee Driver pitched the final four innings. Greenville managed only five hits total. The Lady Cats played error free ball. The Lady Cats are now 4-1 in district play and 20-3 for the season.
Hallsville, undefeated in district play after beating Mt. Pleasant 8-0 Tuesday night, will visit Lady Cat Park for a big showdown Thursday at 6 p.m.
