“A Walk to Remember”… You can Win This Quilt
Tira News By Jan Vaughn
Tira News
By Jan Vaughn
Our community looking for volunteer firefighters. If you (or anyone you know) are interested, please contact Chief Johnny Martin at 903-243-3247. No prior experience needed. You will be trained and your gear and equipment will be provided. We are in need of manpower to safeguard Tira and Hopkins County.
I didn’t receive any other reports this week, so you get to hear about my family again!
Tim Vaughn and Dortheal Denny, the youngest and oldest grandchildren of the late Alfred and Fannie Vaughn.
Tim and Lori Vaughn hosted the Vaughn family reunion in their backyard on Saturday. Eighty-four descendents and in-laws of the late Alfred and Fannie Vaughn gathered to enjoy visiting and a delicious lunch. Tim barbecued several types of meat and guests brought sides and desserts. The youngest and oldest grandchild of Alfred and Fannie were among those in attendance – Tim Vaughn and Dortheal Denny. The group decided that a cooler day would be better, so the event is scheduled for November 5th in 2016.
Brailon Joslin, son of Landon and Laiken Joslin, celebrated his 2nd birthday with family and friends at his home on Saturday afternoon. The kids enjoyed playing in the kiddie pool, on the swing set and mini trampoline, and several enjoyed playing baseball. Guests were treated to hot dogs, chips, drinks, and chocolate cupcakes.
Our son, Delayne Vaughn, came on Friday night and was here for the reunion and birthday party, and then returned to Waco on Saturday night. Grace and Linda Ellen Vaughn and Tiffany, Kenden and Jaidyn joined us for lunch on Sunday. Morgan spent the day with his dad, Malcolm Joslin, and Tonya. They shopped in Canton and Tyler.
Tira Mayor Floyd Payton reports that over the past few months two folding tables have been taken from the community center. There was no sign of a break-in either time. We are requesting that the tables be returned soon.
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].
Wildcats v. Wildcats Friday Night At Prim Stadium
Adam Cook, the Head Football Coach for Whitehouse, expresses admiration for Wildcats Football Coach Greg Owens and the way he runs his program. Coach Owens also thinks a lot of Coach Cook. Their two teams will collide at Prim Stadium Friday night. Coach Cook said his Wildcats are much like the local Wildcats–young.
Whitehouse lost to Texas High in the first week of the season. Texas High is a district opponent for SSHS. He said the Tigers of Texas High are a good team and his squad learned much from the game. Cook said he wanted to see how his team would respond to a long road trip and to playing at Prim Stadium.
Against Chapel Hill, Whitehouse put up 51 points for a win. Cook expects the game Friday night to be a true challenge for his team.
Hearts of Life Adoptable Dog–Kerry
This week’s adoptable dog of the week from Hearts of Life Animal Rescue is one of two almost identical brothers. Hearts of Life Volunteer Deborah Balkcom introduces us to Kerry not to be confused with Jerry.
Mount Vernon Tigers Host Hooks Friday
Coming home with an 0-2 record, the Mount Vernon Tigers will kick-off at 7:30 pm, against the Hooks Hornets, Friday, September 11, 2015, at Don Meredith Stadium in Mount Vernon.
The Hornets bring a 1-1 record and a Harris High School Ranking of 22nd in Texas 3-A, Division II to the game. Hooks outdid last week’s opponent, Redwater, to earn their first win of the season. Redwater will be a late season district opponent for the Tigers.
“The Hornets are a fast team,” stated Coach Jim Solomon, Tiger running back coach.
Hooks has allowed opponents to score 50 points this season while they have put 60 points on the scoreboard. Mount Vernon has scored 14 points to their opponents 105.
Don Meredith Stadium is located at 501 Texas Highway 37 North. Out of town attendees will take the 146 exit and go north on Highway 37 for approximately 2 miles. The stadium will be located on the east side of the highway. Parking is available at the elementary school’s parking area.
Library News From Librarian Hope Cain
*Snoopy is Honorary Chair for National Library Card Sign Up Month September 2015 and wants to remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. Come by Sulphur Springs Public Library, get your child a library card, get some free food coupons and pick up a Snoopy bookmark!
Libraries play an important role in the education and development of children. Studies show that children who are read to in the home and who use the library perform better in school and are more likely to continue to use the library as a source of lifetime learning.
Librarians are literacy experts. Libraries offer a variety of programs to stimulate an interest in reading and learning. Preschool story hours expose young children to the joy of reading, while homework centers provide computers and assistance to older children after school. Summer reading clubs keep children reading during school vacation and have been shown to be the most important factor in avoiding the decrease in reading skills that educators refer to as “summer learning loss.”
*Food for Fines is back! We have teamed up with Community Chest to fill their shelves. Food for Fines program is very simple. If you have library fines for late items, you can pay those fines using nonperishable food. One nonperishable item is worth $1.00 in library fines. We collected over 120 cans of food last year and it went a long way in stocking those pantries. Hurry, Food for Fines ends September 30.
“Updated” Barricaded Man Found Dead in Today’s Standoff with Law Enforcement Now Identified
Sulphur Springs Police Chief Jay Sanders, a member of the SWAT team, told KSST News that the individual who barricaded himself from police this morning is apparently dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Justice of the Peace B J Teer agreed. Teer pronounced the time of death for 55-year old Roger Lane Petty as noon Thursday, September 10, 2015. Teer has ordered an autopsy to be performed by American Forensics of Mesquite. Teer released the name of the deceased this afternoon just before 5 p.m.
Chief Sanders said the Special Crimes Unit went to Cumby this morning to serve a warrant on a Cumby man living on Commerce Street there. The man came to the door with a rifle but did not point it at the officers. The officers, seeing the rifle, took cover. The man went back into the house and the law enforcement officers heard a shot. They established a perimeter and called for backup.
Following two hours of negotiation, the man cut off contact. He would not answer calls from the police. Hopkins County Command, in charge of the scene, ordered the SWAT team to put tear gas into the house. That resulted in no response. Again phone calls were made but no response, according to Sanders.
SWAT made entry into the front door of the house. Inside, they found the subject had a gunshot wound and had apparently taken his own life. EMS made entry into the house at 12:07 p.m. to confirm the death.
Cumby schools had been placed in lockdown to ensure the safety of their students due to the police matter according to a school spokesperson. The schools were placed in lockdown at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when notified of the police standoff a few blocks away.
A warrant service on an individual on Commerce Street in Cumby resulted in the individual barricading himself. Hopkins County Sheriff’s officers, Cumby Police, and others have responded to the situation. Commerce Street and Main Street in Cumby are close with Cumby Volunteer Firemen manning the barricades.
On the Cumby school campus, classes are continuing according to schedule and the elementary students are eating lunch at their regular time. For the high school, lunch will be taken to their building according to the spokesperson. She stated this was being done to ensure the safety of the students.
A resident on Tarrant Street reported hearing 13 shots nearby, some faint and some louder beginning at about 11:30 a.m. The neighborhood has been shut down and those living in houses near the Commerce Street house have been evacuated.
*Updated* Cumby Schools in Lockdown Due to Nearby Standoff
Crisis Over: Click here to see updated story
Cumby schools are in lockdown to ensure the safety of their students due to a police matter according to a school spokesperson. The schools were placed in lockdown at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when notified of a police standoff a few blocks away.
A warrant service on an individual on Commerce Street in Cumby resulted in the individual barricading himself. Hopkins County Sheriff’s officers, Cumby Police, and others have responded to the situation. Commerce Street and Main Street in Cumby are close with Cumby Volunteer Firemen manning the barricades.
A resident on Tarrant Street reported hearing 13 shots nearby, some faint and some louder beginning at about 11:30 a.m. The neighborhood has been shutdown and those living in houses near the Commerce Street house have been evacuated.
On the Cumby school campus, classes are continuing according to schedule and the elementary students are eating lunch at their regular time. For the high school, lunch will be taken to their building according to the spokesperson. She stated this was being done to ensure the safety of the students.
Memorial Hospital Joins Project to Improve Breastfeeding Rates
Hopkins County Memorial Hospital is one of 33 Texas hospitals participating in a statewide effort to improve breastfeeding rates. Breastfeeding is one of the most effective preventive health measures for infants and mothers, according to Alma Carter, Program Director for National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ). Carter said, “Despite the many benefits of breastfeeding, only 21.3 percent of Texas mothers exclusively breastfeed for six months—the AAP recommendation.” To help reverse this trend, the 33 hospitals in southern, central and western Texas have joined a five-year quality improvement project aimed at developing facility environments that support a mother’s choice to breastfeed.
“Although so many women want to breastfeed their infants, too few women succeed,” says NICHQ’s Senior Director of Perinatal Projects, Jennifer Ustianov, MS, BSN, RN, IBCLC. “This project has been helping hospitals give mothers and their infants a greater chance at success. With this new cohort, our reach will be greater and we couldn’t be more excited.”
The Texas Ten Step Star Achiever Breastfeeding Learning Collaborative aims to help birthing facilities create settings where a woman’s choice concerning breastfeeding can be best supported, with the goal of increasing exclusive breastfeeding.
The effort is being led by NICHQ and is funded by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). This is the last of three cohorts of the initiative, which in total includes 74 birthing facilities.
“We’ve seen incredible results in the first two cohorts and we’re looking forward to continuing that success and spreading evidence-based maternity care practices to even more hospitals and birthing centers throughout the state,” says Julie Stagg, State Breastfeeding Coordinator at the Texas Department of State Health Services. “The real winners at the end of the day are Texas mothers and babies.”
NICHQ has a track record of identifying, designing and implementing innovative and practical strategies to help healthcare systems improve the quality of care they provide. Facilities participating in the project will learn how to conduct small tests of change, collect data on progress, connect with community partners like local WIC agencies to ensure consistent breastfeeding messages and education, and ultimately make beneficial, sustainable improvements that support breastfeeding. NICHQ will also bring the teams together virtually and in-person to share lessons, promote collaboration and learn from improvement and breastfeeding experts. The project aligns with a statewide effort to improve maternal and infant health outcomes and increase rates of exclusive breastfeeding.
The 33 facilities participating in cohort C of the Texas Ten Step Star Achiever Breastfeeding Learning Collaborative are:
- Baptist Medical Center, San Antonio
- Baylor Scott & White Hospital Temple
- Brazosport Regional Health System
- Christus Spohn Hospital Alice
- Christus Spohn South
- Christus St. Michael Health System
- Dallas Medical Center
- Edinburg Regional Medical Center
- Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center
- Harlingen Medical Center
- Hill Country Memorial
- Hopkins County Memorial Hospital
- Houston Northwest Medical Center
- Knapp Medical Center
- Lake Pointe Medical Center
- Las Palmas Medical Center
- McAllen Medical Center
- Medical Center Hospital
- Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital
- Methodist Richardson Medical Center
- Nacogdoches Medical Center
- Oakbend Medical Center
- Parkland Health and Hospital System
- Permian Regional Medical Center
- Reeves County Hospital
- Resolute Health- New Braunfels
- Rolling Plains Memorial Hospital
- San Angelo Community Medical Center
- Shannon Medical Center
- David’s Round Rock Medical Center
- David’s South Austin Medical Center
- UTMB Angleton Danbury Hospital
- Women’s Hospital at Renaissance
