PJC Board Approves Tax Rate, New Hires
Following a formal budget and tax hearing at Paris Junior College that brought no comments, the PJC Board of Regents approved the 2015-2016 tax rate of .18.75 cents and adopted an annual operating budget of $35,745,475 for the coming year.
The budget is down $4.5 million from one year ago due to $4 million less in federal financial aid dollars. Other reductions were made by eliminating unfilled positions.
In other business the Regents:
- Received a financial report showing the overall cash position of PJC remains quite strong and expenditures are in line with the budget.
- Approved a property deposit fee of zero since PJC policies to collect damages for destruction of property work well.
- Accepted the Certified Tax Rolls of $1,578,732,719 for property taxable by Paris Junior College as presented by the Lamar County Chief Appraiser.
- Accepted the resignation of Regent Carlton Grant “with regret,” and discussed reviewing the registered voter list from District 2 prior to the next meeting.
- Received the results from the fall 2014 and spring 2015 student evaluation of instruction.
- Received an update on the Annual Fund Drive indicating that donations are nearing the goal of $200,000.
The Board of Regents also approved the reassignments of Linda Miles as Instructor of Psychology and Daniel Parham as Student Recruiter/Academic Advisor; the employment of Bilal Batley as Men’s Basketball Coach/Kinesiology Instructor.
Other employment action included hiring Carey Gable as Academic/Financial Aid Advisor at the PJC-Sulphur Springs Center, D’Lynn Gage as Instructor of History, Gonzalo Garza as Women’s Basketball Coach/Kinesiology Instructor, Ashlee Graham as Instructor of Emergency Medical Services, Kandice Pryor as Instructor of Associate Degree Nursing, and Katie Shipman as Educational Talent Search Junior High School Advisor.
Regents also accepted the resignation/retirements of Educational Talent Search Director Misty Gage, Women’s Basketball Coach Michael Madrid, Men’s Basketball Coach Chuck Taylor, and Assistant to the President Stacy Young.
The regents added an additional year to the contract of PJC President Dr. Pamela Anglin, keeping it at three years.
SSISD Budget Adopted
The Sulphur Springs School Board adopted its budget for this school year at a special meeting Monday night. The tax rate remains the same. Superintendent Michael Lamb says the budget allows the district to do some specific things such as continuing to place technology into students’ hands and its budgeted instead of coming from fund balance. Two police cars will be bought to replace two that gave out this summer. The district will contribute to employee insurance. Some heating and air conditioning units will be replaced. A couple of new buses will be purchased. Substitutes’ pay was increased.
SSHS Cross Country Season Begins
Wildcats and Lady Cats’ cross country runners will participate in the local Jace Jog 5K Run this weekend to get ready for the upcoming season according to Cross Country Coach Andy Holt. He says some of his runners ran all summer getting ready. The first major competition on the calendar takes place on Saturday, September 5 at UT Tyler. Coach Holt has several returnees including Wildcat Jacob Gatewood who just missed out on going to state last year. Other Wildcat returnees include Tanner Ramirez, Will Fain, Payton Vickery and Cesar Andino. Lady Cat returnees include Lauren Helm, Summer Brooks, Taylor Robinson and Payton Pierce. Coach Holt says he’s looking for young runners to challenge for spots on the varsity.
Extension Celebrates Family Mealtime by Johanna Hicks
Extension Celebrates Family Mealtime
Join us September, 2015, as Texas A&M AgriLife Extension celebrates family mealtime by MAKING IT FUN! Eating meals together promotes:
- Quality time for child and adult interaction. Family dinner provides time to share activities from the day or discuss upcoming events.
- A food & health connection. Eating together provides an opportunity to talk about and model good nutrition and health behaviors.
- Passing down cultural and family identity. Family dinners provide an opportunity for sharing family stories and creative memories.
Get children involved and make it fun. Encourage children to participate in age appropriate tasks. Let them help plan menu ideas and side dishes. Take them grocery shopping and let them pick out a new fruit or vegetable to try with dinner. Reinforce color recognition by instructing them to pick out something orange, red, green, yellow, etc. from the produce section. Teach them about setting the table. Guide them in basic food preparation (as they are developmentally ready for and can safely do.)
Here are three things you can do now:
1) Make it your mission to have meals as a family three or more times each week.
2) Focus on family interactions during the meal by turning off the TV, video games, cell phones, or other distractions.
3) Use this time to connect with your family. Encourage conversations by having each family member talk about their day and share family stories.
4) If you haven’t signed up for “Dinner Tonight”, it isn’t too late. Receive weekly updates, recipes, and videos by signing up at http://dinnertonight.tamu.edu.
On another note, I recently corresponded with a volunteer who is associated with the Diner Bell, a free lunch program provided every Wednesday at First United Methodist Church in Sulphur Springs. She stated that they have served over 20,000 meals since February, 2012, when they first started. She shared one of their recipes with me, and I wanted to share it with you (with permission).
Beef Tortilla Casserole
Ingredients:
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can (14-ounces) mild enchilada sauce
1 can (4-ounces) chopped green chilies
1 bag (6-ounces) corn chips, or more
½ cup chopped onion
½ pound grated cheese (cheddar or Mozzarella)
Directions:
1) Brown ground beef. Drain fat. Stir in soups, sauce, and chilies until heated.
2) Place in a 13 X 9 –inch casserole, alternating chips, sauce, onion and cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° until bubbly. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Freezes well – simply reheat to an internal temperature of 165°.
Johanna’s note: to cut down on sodium and fat content, substitute low-sodium/ low-fat soups and cheese, and lightly salted chips. You can also rinse the cooked meat under running water in a colander to remove excess fat.
Fabulous Fall Friday
If you enjoy cooking demonstrations, you don’t want to miss this multi-county event! Fabulous Fall Friday is a joint effort between Hopkins, Rains, and Wood County Family & Consumer Sciences agents to provided tasty and nutritious recipes in a fun, casual atmosphere. We’ll each provide cooking demonstrations using recipes from the 2015 “Dinner Tonight” Cookbook, featuring the Mediterranean method. Guest speakers will demonstrate fall home decorating and fashion accessorizing.
Fabulous Fall Friday will take place on Friday, October 9, at Emory Baptist Church in Emory (just a few short miles south of Sulphur Springs). Doors open at9:00 a.m. and the program will begin at 9:30, ending at noon. The cost is $10, which covers cookbook, gift bag, refreshments, and a chance for some great door prizes! Registration forms are available at the Extension Office, or call 903-885-3443, and I’ll e-mail the form. Registration should be postmarked by September 25.
Closing Thought
Events unfolding in today’s work are certainly unsettling, but we know Who holds the future!
Johanna Hicks
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
Family & Consumer Sciences
1200-B W. Houston
P.O.Box 518
Sulphur springs, TX 75483
903-885-3443 – phone
903-439-4909 – Fax
[email protected]
Wildcat Defense Prepares for Heath Hawks
Wildcat Defensive Coordinator Triston Abron says the Rockwall Heath Hawks are extremely explosive on offense. The Wildcats face the Hawks Friday night at 7:30 in Prim Stadium.
The Hawks use two different quarterbacks and run a spread offense. A slot receiver is used as a second running back but not out of the backfield. He is often in motion, can catch the ball well, and provides distraction to assist others to get open to receive the ball. Abron said that the Hawks are young this year, but the Heath program seems to be cloning their teams year after year.
Coach Abron and his staff are also teaching the Wildcats a new defense the players like to refer to as The Dark Side. The defense is high risk, high reward according to Abron. Abron thinks the new style defense fits the personality of the Wildcat coaches and team this year.
Winnsboro Police Report for August 17-23
Winnsboro Police arrested four, investigated two accidents, answered 138 calls for service, issued 14 citations and 22 warnings for the week of August 17-23.
Eric Villarreal, 27, of Winnsboro was arrested on Monday, August 17, for assault causing bodily injury/family violence.
Also arrested Monday for assault causing bodily injury/family violence was Kara Mobery, 29, of Winnsboro.
James Kidd, 33, of Winnsboro was arrested for public intoxication Tuesday, August 18.
On Friday, August 21, Simon Mahoney, 35, of Winnsboro was arrested for robbery.
An accident Monday, the 17th in the 400 block of Ebenezer occurred when an SUV that was parked was struck by a golf cart.
On Friday, the 21st, a sedan traveling eastbound in the 300 block of east Broadway was struck by a second sedan that failed to yield the right of way.
Mequite Man’s Solicitation Results in Local Arrest
Jeffery Thomas Miller, 45, of Mesquite is in Hopkins County Jail on a $50,000 bond Tuesday morning. Miller, who posted an ad soliciting sex, received a response from one whom he thought to be a minor—a 16-year old female. He began talking to her and arranged to meet for her in Sulphur Springs for the purpose of sexual acts, according to local law enforcement. Miller, a maintenance man by profession arrived at a League Street location where he met local law enforcement. He gave no resistance to arrest as he confessed to the online solicitation of a minor. According to Amanda Weatherford with the Sulphur Springs Police Department, the investigation into Miller’s solicitation continues. 
Hospital Board Considers Budget, Tax Rate
The Hopkins County Memorial Hospital Board approved its organizational chart, operating budget, personnel and capital budget during a regular board meeting Monday night. The vote was unanimous. The budget proposes to keep the tax rate the same at 25-cents per $100 of valuation. Hospital CFO Donna Wallace said the budget begins with 62 days of cash on hand. Combined clinic and hospital revenue is $157-million. The budget actually includes about $81,000 more revenue than expenses. Even though the tax rate is expected to remain the same, the hospital board will have to have two public hearings because their overall tax revenue increased $1.8% due to increased net taxable value of property. The board will have public hearings on Tuesday, September 15 at noon and Tuesday, September 22 at noon. They will finalize the tax rate at a September 28 meeting. The new budget goes into effect October 1.
