Senior Night Prepares Lady Cats Soccer For Playoffs
In what amounted to a warm up game for the soccer playoffs next week, the Hallsville Lady Bobcats defeated the Lady Cats, 3-1 at a chilly Gerald Prim Stadium Friday night. Faith Singleton scored the lone Lady Cats goal after an assist from Mileena Zirretta with just 3:01 left in the contest.
The Lady Cats ended up in third place in the district race. They will face Whitehouse in a bi-district playoff match at the end of next week. Details are still being firmed up. The Lady Cats compiled a district record of 8-5-1 and a season mark of 17-6-1.
Wildcats Defeat Mt Pleasant 12-2
The Wildcats’ baseball team evened their district record at 1-1 with an impressive 12-2 win over Mt. Pleasant Friday night at Eagle Stadium. The game was called after four and a half innings due to the ten run rule. The Wildcats had two six-run innings.
In the second, Mason Buck singled and then he scored on an Easton Silman single. Ryder Caddell walked, Michael Arnold had a bunt single, Ryan Humphries walked, Cole Cooper drove home two runs with a single. Triston McCormack got on on an error and Heston Golightly plated a run with a sacrifice fly.
In the third, Silman walked, Caddell singled, Arnold walked, Humphries singled driving in two runs, Cooper singled, McCormack drove home a run with a sacrifice fly, Buck singled and Silman was hit by a pitch.
Ryan Humphries got the pitching win allowing only 2 runs.
The Wildcats will play in Greenville next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Wildcats season record is 4-6-1.
Heart Breaker for Lady Cats in 5-4 Loss to Lady Tigers
The Lady Cats’ softball team lost a heart breaker at Mt. Pleasant Friday night. The Lady Tigers edged the Lady Cats, 5-4. The loss dropped the Lady Cats district record to 3-1. Their season record is now 19-3.
The Lady Cats will play Greenville at Lady Cat Park next Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Atmos Energy to Perform Routine Maintenance/Flare in Hopkins County
GREENVILLE, Texas (March 20, 2016) – Atmos Energy crews and contractors will oversee a controlled natural gas flaring Tuesday – Thursday, March 22 – 24, and possibly again on Monday, March 28, 2016. Flaring will begin at approximately 7 a.m. each day and may continue eight to twelve hours. The flare location is on Hopkins County Road 2319 just east of FM 1870. The company will be working on a a section of natural gas pipeline in the area as part of normal, routine maintenance operations.
“Flaring” is a standard industry practice to safely burn natural gas that must be removed from a specific section of pipeline so employees can work on the pipe. People in the area will notice a large, controlled flame and moderate noise during this process. Atmos Energy employees will be on site to monitor the process as natural gas is vented into the atmosphere.
The Hopkins County Fire Department, Sheriff’s Department, Volunteer Fire Departments in the area, 911 operators and county and city officials are being advised of the flaring prior to the work beginning on March 22.
Rain in Forecast Prompts Game Time Change
Lady Cats Softball Coach David Carrillo said Friday morning his varsity only will play at Mt. Pleasant at 5 p.m. this evening if the Mt. Pleasant field does not get any more rain this afternoon. If the field in Mt. Pleasant does gets more rain, the varsity only contest could be played in Mt. Pleasant on Monday at 5 p.m.
All other scheduled SSHS Wildcats and Lady Cats games remain at scheduled times.
Tira News
By Jan Vaughn
Floyd and Martha Payton visited Point First Baptist Church on Sunday. Martha’s great nephew Zachary Honzell is pastor there, along with his wife Ashley and son little Von. The church hosted the Silver Chord Choir from First Baptist Church in Wylie. This choir sings and presents a very inspirational message at the RV parks in South Texas. Martha also has a brother who sings in the choir. Martha reports, “We had lunch in the dining area for one and all. One member has a large smoker – he did the briskets and the others brought food to share for a delicious lunch. Several members from our family were there also, which made a very enjoyable day.”
Our son, Delayne Vaughn, was on Spring Break the week of March 7-11. He came for a visit that Thursday evening. Our daughter, Tiffany. and her family ate with us on Thursday night, after the North Hopkins Open House and Book Fair, and then again on Friday evening, and we enjoyed visiting and playing games. Delayne returned to Waco on Saturday afternoon. We kept our granddaughter, Jaidyn Joslin, and great-grandsons, Rylan, Brailon, and Slaiden Joslin on Saturday evening. Our family has been enjoying Spring Break this week.
I hope to have more reports from Spring Break activities next week.
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].
Miller Grove News
by Brandon Darrow
This week there have been two deaths to report with connections to our small community.
Deanna (Higginbotham) Arnett passed Mar. 14, at the home of her daughter, Julie Brewer, of the Divide community. She was born Sept. 21, 1960, in Dallas, the daughter of Bobby D. Higginbotham and Golden Nadine (Wright) Higginbotham. Visitation was held Mar. 16, from 6-8 pm. Funeral services were conducted at 2:00 pm, Thursday, Mar. 17, 2016, at West Oaks Funeral home in Sulphur Springs by Rev. Byron Houck. Graveside was held in the Barker Cemetery where others in Deanna’s family are buried. She is survived by her husband of 15 years, Danny Arnett; two sons, Michael and Brian Evans; one daughter, Julie Brewer; two grandsons, Chad Norris and Easton Brewer; and many other friends and family.
Bennie Cordell of the Divide community also passed this week, on Mar. 16, in Sulphur Springs. Funeral services will be conducted Sunday, Mar. 20, at Murray-Orwosky Funeral Home with interment to follow in Miller Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be Sat., Mar. 19, from 6-8 pm at the funeral home. Ms. Cordell was 80 and is survived by three daughters, one being Stephanie Bland of the Divide community.
Happy Birthday to Ann (Kernes) Moseley & Scott Baylus on Mar. 22; Sheena (Petty) McCraw & Pamela Potts on Mar. 23; Clinton Lennon on Mar. 24; Billy Menge on Mar. 25; and Cody Jennings, Denise Gilliland, Jackie Burns, Kim (Miller) Fox & Kay (Miller) Blanton on Mar. 26.
As you travel the highways and byways don’t forget that all roads lead back home and back to Miller Grove. Please send me any newsworthy information. My email address is [email protected].
Hearts of Life Presents Lizzie for Adoption At Saturday Adopt-a-thon
Lizzie is the Hearts of Life Dog of the Week presented Thursday. She was running the streets and eating from a burn pile. Hearts of Life rescued Lizzie and she is doing quite well. Lizzie will be one of three dogs available a for adoption at Saturday’s Adopt-a-thon at Petsense, 1707 S. Broadway in Sulphur Springs. The dogs will be inside this Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.
Soil Management
by Mario Villarino, DVM, Ph.D.
Soil management is an important component of ranch management. During our grass or hay production process, soil nutrients get transformed from inner materials into forage and then into beef or milk. It is a basic cycle that has kept us producing the food we consume and at the same time protecting our resources in an environmentally accepted process. In our region, several conditions can make this process fail.
In hay production systems, the depletion of nutrients removed with the crop can hinder its own development, and in cattle grazing systems the transformation of nitrogen into plant growth and the accumulation of phosphorous in the soil can also impact grass production. Weeds and native soil chemistry overall influence grass production. Hopkins County is remarkable divided into several soil regions with specific properties each one. Acidic soils must be managed in a different way than alkaline soils are. It is very important for ranch manager to conduct soil testing often to have a complete view of the chemical conditions affecting grass production, nutrient deficiencies and overloads.
A common weed often found during the fall in Hopkins County are grass burrs. Grass burrs grow in sandy soils and are often controlled using pre (Prowl H2O) and post (Pastora) emergent herbicides. According to Hugh Aljoe, from the Noble foundation:“ There is something else we can do to inhibit grass burs: apply Ammonium Nitrate + Herbivory. Unfortunately, this is not a new herbicide that is as effective as Atrazine was when it could be used on bermudagrass. (Atrazine is a restricted use herbicide and is not labeled for bermudagrass.) Ammonium Nitrate + Herbivory, or nitrogen fertilizer + grazing, simply means to fertilize the bermudagrass in order to out-grow grass bur plants and flash-graze the grass bur plants periodically to keep them in a vegetative state for as long as possible.
Cattle do not usually prefer bermudagrass if there is something else available. On the other hand, grass bur plants are highly preferred by cattle until they become reproductive. By repeatedly grazing the grass bur plants through the early spring, we are increasing the competitive advantage of the bermudagrass, especially if it’s well fertilized. The key is to allow the cattle access to the bermudagrass pasture only long enough to graze the grass bur plants. This could be only a couple of hours or less — flash graze — and then repeat every five to seven days until the bermudagrass has the opportunity to overtake the majority of the grass bur plants in the pasture.
Although nitrogen (N) stimulates the growth and production aspects we associate with fertilizer, it is important to know the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) levels of the soil. For the greatest efficiency in nitrogen utilization, there are minimal levels of P and K that should be maintained. It is also important to know the pH of soil. Bermudagrass can grow in a wide range of pH’s but optimal range is between 6.0 and 7.0. If the pH falls below this range (becomes acidic), commercial lime can be applied to effectively elevate the pH. On bermudagrass pastures, lime should be applied during the fall and winter seasons to allow it time to become incorporated into the soil before the spring application of fertilizer”.
For more information on this or any other agricultural topic please contact the Hopkins County Extension Office at 903-885-3443 or email me at [email protected].
Memorial Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary Provide Hours of Service
Betty Tucker: Gift Shop 3500 hours.
Alan Sutton: Day Surgery 1000 hours.
Troy Garrett: Memorial Clinic 2500 hours.
Hopkins County Memorial Hospital honors their volunteers who have devoted hours of service.
Jane Sutton: Gift Shop 3000 hours.
Marry Harris: Gift Shop 2000 hours.
Wilma Thompson, Front Desk/Popcorn—2000 hours
