Thursday Morning Shooting At Helm Lane Apartments
A Thursday morning shooting at Helm Lane Apartments is under investigation by the Sulphur Springs Police Department. Criminal Investigator Detective Sgt. Bo Fox gave preliminary information to KSST News. He said a white male showed up at Hopkins County Memorial Hospital with a gunshot wound and was being treated for the wound at the time he spoke with News Director Don Julian. Fox said investigators were speaking with several witnesses and subjects regarding the incident. The victim was in stable condition and able to talk to investigators at the time of the interview. Fox expects the victim to be able to provide insight into the motivations behind the shooting that occurred somewhere around 9 a.m.
Collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses was the focus of the investigation at midday Thursday but Fox said they “may be coming to the public in the near future” for suspect information.
Brooks Signs to Pitch at PJC
Wildcats Baseball pitcher Ben Brooks signed to pitch for Paris Junior College next season. The SSHS graduate signed Wednesday afternoon at the SSHS Athletic Complex with his parents, sister, Wildcat Baseball and PJC coach present.
Brooks called the moment the beginning of a dream. He is excited to play college baseball calling fastball, curve, and change up his strengths. He hopes to play beyond the junior college level.
Wildcat Coach Jarod Hammock said that Brooks has been a great four year player for the locals calling him “a little bulldog”. He said that Brooks should do quite well on the college level.
Brooks confidence and ability will make him an immediate starter for PJC.
All about Broody Hens
Like any other day, you go out to your chicken coop to collect eggs. There in the nesting box is one of your hens. Like usual, you slowly reach under her, but as you get close enough to touch her, she puffs out her feathers, spreads her wings slightly, and releases an ear-splitting screech.
Congratulations! You have a ‘broody hen’. That means she’s ready to ‘set on’ or hatch her ‘clutch’ of eggs. This behavior can continue for weeks to months. Sometimes hens lay so many eggs that there is no more room for more. A broody hen also plucks her own breast feathers to help warm the eggs.
If you decide to let her set, put her in a safe place. Make sure there is clean water and food near by, some hens are so ‘broody’ they forget to eat or drink. Be sure to keep any animal or yourself from getting to close, she will peck you intensively.
At my household, I have a ‘broody’ hen named Mean Girl. She is an Egyptian Fayoumi. Her clutch of 2 eggs hatched a month ago. There is nothing cuter than a hen and her chicks going out for their daily journey. Mean Girl shows her chicks how to act like real chickens.
While Mean Girl was ‘broody’ she exhibited all the signs you would expect. She earned the nickname, ‘Raptor Chicken’, based on the ‘Velociraptors’ in ‘Jurassic Park’. She guards her babies, makes sure they are accounted for, and always protects them. But if someone bothers her, it’s on! All I can say is, she is just doing her hen ‘duties’ and I understand that.
Story by Molly Clegg, HS Intern
Annual Work Camp Underway
The annual Sulphur Springs Work Camp is going on this week. It’s hard work rehabbing houses of those in need by day with fun and religious themes
with fun and religious themes in the evening. I visited Crew #10 at a home in the 300 block Robertson in Sulphur Springs. I talked with the crew leader and several of the campers.
Texas Poised to Cut Some Specialty License Plates
by Eva Hershaw, The Texas Tribune January 8, 2015
Dr. Pepper, the National Wild Turkey Foundation and the Fort Worth Zoo are among 56 groups that will no longer grace the bumpers of Texas cars and trucks unless sales pick up.
Under new rules set between the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and My Plates, the company that sells specialty license plates for the state, any designs that do not record sales of at least 200 by mid-December will be permanently removed from circulation as part of an effort to make more money and sell more license plates.
“We have seen a proliferation of plates in the system. Currently, we’re at 160,” said Steve Farrar, president of My Plates, which has held an exclusive contract since 2009. “It is good to do a cleanse from time to time according to what is selling. And this time, it comes as a requirement in the extension of our contract.”
The company’s new contract, which runs through 2019, includes four deadlines over the course of the year. To prevent removal, all plates must have 50 pairs sold and in use by March 15. That threshold jumps to 100 in June, 150 in September and 200 by mid-December.
Any plate failing to meet sales targets will be permanently removed from the state list, though people who already have those plates could use them until they expire.
There are 56 groups at risk of being pushed out of the program now, with 2014 sales ranging from a high of 199 to a low of four. The list includes burger joints, sororities and sports teams.
Of the 15 Texas high schools with specialty license plates, only Carroll ISD has hit the 200-plate mark. The Houston Rockets, by comparison, fell 29 plates short. While My Plates is helping organizations better market their license plates, other groups, regardless of marketing efforts, are unlikely to make the cut. Lake Dallas ISD, with four total sales last year, occupies the lowest position on the list of 56 specialty plates at risk.
“We have a great following that supports us, but we are a small community and we aren’t going to be able to come up with the numbers they are asking for,” said Melaynee Broadstreet, director of public relations for Lake Dallas ISD. For every specialty Lake Dallas license plate sold, the school district received a royalty of 10 percent. “It is not a fundraiser we were depending on,” she added. “We have a lot of other ways to get support from the community.”
The black-and-white Lone Star Texas plate is currently the top seller. The top five selling plates – all black and white – currently account for half of total sales. Since it first partnered with the state of Texas in 2009, My Plates has sold more than 218,000 specialized license plates.
Specialty plates can be designed by a nonprofit organization, individual or business. When purchased, the proceeds are divided between the state, My Plates and the organization in question as determined by contract. State agencies can also sponsor specialty plates. In the past five years, sales of specialty license plates have sent an estimated $28 million into the state general revenue fund.
This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2015/01/08/texas-poised-cut-specialty-license-plates/.
Grand Jury Returns Indictments
A Hopkins County Grand Jury meeting Monday returned three indictments. Joe Don Dial was indicted for continuous sexual abuse of a young child. Incidents allegedly occurred on June 1, July 15 and August 30 in 2011 involving a girl under 14.
Angela Marie Lee was indicted for tampering with a witness. She allegedly threatened to burn down a woman’s home in an attempt to influence testimony.
A third indictment was sealed pending an arrest.
The Grand Jury agreed to meet once again later in June
County Disassociating Themselves from NETO; Fraud Being Investigated
Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom says a 2013 audit of North East Texas Opportunities or NETO reveals more than $700,000 in fraud. NETO currently has a senior citizen meals program for rural county residents and a utility service. Judge Newsom says the county and others are disassociating themselves from NETO. State and federal investigations of NETO are underway. Judge Newsom has been assured that county residents receiving meals will be taken care of by a state agency.
Hot Air Balloon At Dairy Fest This Weekend
Dairy Festival 2014
Hot air balloons will be a big part of the first weekend of Dairy Festival this Friday and Saturday. Thirty (30) balloon pilots will return again this year. A special shape balloon from Albuquerque is of a huge beagle. A few balloons will participate in media flights Friday morning, weather permitting. Glows and flights are scheduled for Friday and Saturday evenings at Shannon Oaks Church grounds from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.
“Updated” Duffey Sentenced to 20 Years
Roy Dean Duffey was sentenced to 20 years in the Texas Department of Corrections and a fine of $5,000 Wednesday afternoon. In pronouncing the sentence, 8th Judicial District Judge Eddie Northcutt reviewed the testimony of a number of witnesses who had testified to the character of Duffey and David Harrison Cooper whom Duffey murdered with a battle knife. Duffey was found guilty of murder late Tuesday afternoon in the bench trial in Hopkins County Courthouse. Duffey has 30 days to appeal the sentence and gave every indication that he will do so.
District Attorney Will Ramsay said that because the murder was “aggravated”, Duffey must serve at least one half of his sentence before being eligible for parole. Ramsay stated, “Of course, I would have liked for Mr. Duffey to have received a longer sentence. That being said, I have full faith and confidence in how Judge Northcutt evaluates these cases and I whole-heartedly respect his verdict. I am so thankful that justice has been served for the Cooper family. Because this was a retrial, I am eternally grateful for the witnesses who, once again, had to testify about these facts in court. It is extremely difficult to testify in a murder case, but to do it twice is excruciating. These witnesses showed incredible strength in coming forward with the truth.”
Among witnesses called by District Attorney Will Ramsay was a step-daughter of Duffey who testified that he raped her and that severely affected her life. She said during testimony that she would have been a different person had it not been for Duffey.
Cooper’s mother testified that she was in church when the murder took place. She noted that although Cooper had problems obeying the law, his life was changing. She said others were noting the change as well. Perhaps the most ironic story of the trial was told by Cooper’s mother. As a child, Cooper suffered with asthma. He had a severe attack and was taken to the doctor who wanted Cooper placed under an oxygen tent. She took him home for her husband to build the tent for him. When she arrived at home, her sister, who was then living with Duffey, told her that Duffey wanted her to know that an Oak tree up wind from their house was giving off huge amounts of pollen and that the doctor could give the child a shot for that. She took the child to the doctor, who then administered the medicine. The doctor told Cooper’s mother that the child would have died had they not administered the medicine. She credited Duffey with saving her son’s life but now he had taken her son’s life.
The defense sought to show Duffey in a better light. A step-daughter who had lived in Duffey’s home from age 4 to 18 testified that he had been a good father to her. Although her sister had said he had molested her, the witnesses called her sister “very promiscuous”. The D A pointed out that the best friend of the sister bore Duffey’s child when the woman was 20 and Duffey in his 50’s.
The District Attorney had asked for a life sentence. However, Judge Northcutt had concluded from testimony that Cooper had aggravated the actions of Duffey. Judge Northcutt handed down the sentence calling the murder an “influence of sudden passion” which provides a sentence of 2-20 years for manslaughter.
KSST News accounts of the trial are found here, here, and here.
Pastor Nash, Student’s Family Seeks Policy And Procedure For Future Incidents
Harold Nash, Sr., Pastor of Morning Chapel Baptist Church, told KSST News Wednesday afternoon, June 10th that the desire of those who addressed the Sulphur Springs School Board Monday night is to have the board put in place a plan of action should such an instance similar to the “Ghetto Award” arise again. The Ghetto Award was the topic of discussion of speakers during the public forum portion of the meeting of the Sulphur Springs School Board Monday night. Speakers included mother of the Middle School child who received the award, Jerrika Dabbs-Wilkins and Pastors Lavelle Hendricks and Pastor Nash, who urged the board to act on the matter. According to Pastor Nash, the apology made by those involved in the incident has been accepted. He stated specifically that the mother of the child had reassured him Wednesday that she had accepted the apology but that she desired, as did others, that a plan be put in place by the board that would provide for the correction of such problems and proper discipline of those involved in such incidents in the future.
A Thursday June 4th afternoon meeting between several family members, two middle school classroom teachers, Middle School principal, and Superintendent Michael Lamb resulted from a complaint made to the school system regarding a “Ghetto Award” presented Wednesday in a Sulphur Springs Middle School Classroom. The Superintendent of Sulphur Springs schools said that a few steps to take resulted from the meeting and those will be presented in the executive session of the Sulphur Springs School Board Monday night. No action was taken by the school board during Monday night’s meeting. The board by law could not respond to speakers in public forum and no actions were recorded by the board following their executive session.
Questions had been raised Wednesday afternoon June 3rd and Thursday morning, June 4th regarding the “award” given to a Sulphur Springs Middle School Student. Lamb, Superintendent of Sulphur Springs Schools, said that the award was not a school sponsored award nor was the Middle School principal, Jena Williams aware that it was being given. Although the award purported to contain the principal’s signature, the signature on the award is not that of the principal. The classroom teacher presented certificates to all the members of the class pointing out specific characteristics of the child’s school year. According to Lamb, the Ghetto Award was the only one that was derogatory in nature. He said SSISD deemed the award unacceptable.
