Senator Hall Seeking Committe Support for SB1158
SB1158, which would give citizens in Hopkins County the opportunity to vote to approve or disapprove an increase in county sales tax up to one-half percent and remove the 7% per $100 dollar valuation property tax increase currently adopted to fund a new jail under construction, is currently in the Senate Finance Committee with no current movement. According to Senator Bob Hall’s Chief of Staff Amy Lane, “At this time, we are working on the Committee Members for their support to ensure that the bill has the necessary votes to make it out of committee. Once the bill gets voted out of committee, it would then go to the Senate Floor for a full Senate Chamber vote.”
In recent days, Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom noted that time is running out on the bill. The sales tax would take the place of a property tax increase this year and could be used only for the cost of the jail. Although the increase in sales tax would end when the county jail is paid for, the increase would make Hopkins County the highest sales tax county in the state.
Judge Newsom and three county commissioners traveled to Austin April 21st to address the finance committee in support of the bill. On that day, Newsom and commissioners requested, “Give us a chance to vote.”
There are now three things that can happen: 1) A vote by the finance committee to pass the bill on to the Senate floor, 2) a vote by the committee to not pass the bill to the Senate (8 of 15 votes are needed to move the bill to the senate floor), or 3) the bill can die in committee.
The tax revenue from the potential additional sales tax could only be used to pay for the jail and could not be used for the general fund. Although property taxes would decrease should the sales tax increase be chosen by voters, the county could raise property taxes as soon as the next year and any increase in the evaluation of property could also increase what property owners would pay the county in taxes.
Sulphur Springs City Council has gone on record opposing SB1158 as has the Texas Tax Payers Association who sited that the senate finance committee has denied other local option elections regarding sales tax increase based on the state losing control of the sales tax should such votes be allowed.
Toyota Texas Bass Classic Born of Dreams
PRESS RELEASE – May 5, 2015
Media Contact: Larry Hodge, (903) 670-2255, [email protected]
Toyota Texas Bass Classic Born of Dreams
ATHENS—The Toyota Texas Bass Classic (TTBC) scheduled for May 23—25 on Lake Fork is the world championship of bass fishing, but it was born of a dream to involve more youth in fishing. And that dream was based on the work of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) fisheries biologists who had a vision to make Lake Fork the best bass fishing lake it could be.
Those dreams came together as a result of a chance meeting at a ranch gate in South Texas, and the results went far beyond what anyone dared dream of.
Professional angler Kelly Jordon happened to be entering his deer lease through a gate shared with a neighboring ranch when the owner of that ranch drove up and saw Jordon’s wrapped truck promoting his sponsors. The ranch owner was Donato Ramos, a TPWD commissioner. “I asked him to dinner that night, and we talked about ways to better utilize resources and get the word out about how great Texas fishing is,” Jordon recalls. “The biggest priority for him was to find ways to involve more youth in fishing in Texas. I told him of my dream to have a tournament on Lake Fork to showcase my home lake. He liked the idea of showing people what we had in Texas and suggested that we make it a celebration not just of Lake Fork but also of TPWD’s efforts to improve fishing and the economic benefits of fishing to Texas.”
The result of that conversation was a fishing trip on Lake Fork. Jordon hosted Ramos and TPWD commission chairman Dan Friedkin. “We caught a lot of fish, and it went from there,” Jordon says. “They are businessmen and know how to make things happen. That’s why it has really been awesome.”
Lake Fork was planned from the beginning to be a special place. Prior to impoundment, TPWD biologists worked with Sabine River Authority (SRA) to make Lake Fork into bass heaven. “We knew Lake Fork would be a good lake even if we did nothing,” says Allen Forshage, who was TPWD’s Inland Fisheries regional director at the time. “We decided to do everything we could to make it a great lake.”
SRA agreed to leave most of the timber in the lake standing rather than clearing it in order to create habitat for fish. Forshage and his team stocked Florida largemouth bass into farm ponds in the lake’s footprint to jumpstart the fishery when the lake filled. Then Forshage went one step further. At the time anglers in Texas could catch and keep 10 bass a day 10 inches or longer. Lakes would boom for a few years, but because few fish survived to spawning age, the fishery would quickly decline. Forshage fought for and won a five-fish daily bag with a 14-inch minimum length for Lake Fork, which was later changed to the present 16- to 24-inch slot with only one fish per day over 24 inches allowed to be harvested.
The result was spectacular. With its fish living in ideal habitat and protected from harvest until they had time to reproduce, Lake Fork shot to the top of the nation’s bass-fishing destinations. TPWD estimates that the lake produces 15,000 fish a year weighing seven pounds or more. Lake Fork has produced more than 250 entries into the Toyota ShareLunker Program, which requires that fish weigh 13 pounds or more. Both the first ShareLunker, a fish weighing 17.67 pounds, and the current state record largemouth bass of 18.18 pounds were caught from Lake Fork.
Lake Fork’s ability to produce big bass was confirmed by the 2014 Toyota Texas Bass Classic, which was won by Keith Combs with a three-day total weight of 110 pounds. “No other lake in the country has come close to that,” Jordon says.
Each year the Toyota Texas Bass Classic brings thousands of spectators to the lake to enjoy country music concerts and a variety of outdoor activities in the Outdoor Adventure Zone, but its real purpose is to benefit TPWD’s youth fishing programs. Each year Toyota donates $250,000 to support TPWD programs such as Neighborhood Fishin’ and the Texas division of the Wildlife Forever State-Fish Art Contest. In 2015 those donations will reach the $2.25 million mark.
“The Neighborhood Fishin’ Program is what Donato Ramos and Dan Friedkin championed,” Jordon says. The program regularly stocks fish into 17 urban-area lakes that allow people to fish close to home. The newest Neighborhood Fishin’ lakes are Woldert Pond in Tyler, just down the road from Lake Fork, and Small Pond in Grover Nelson Park in Abilene. “We estimate that some 100,000 people a year fish in Neighborhood Fishin’ ponds, and about half those are youth or people new to fishing,” says Dave Terre, TPWD’s Chief of Management and Research.
The Texas division of the State-Fish Art Contest allows students in grades K-12 to submit drawings of fish and compete for scholarships. Artwork from that contest appears on Toyota Texas Bass Classic tickets. Research shows that students who take part in this contest are more likely to become interested in fishing. More than 1,000 youths entered the Texas division of the State-Fish Art Contest just ended, more than any other state.
Conservation is at the heart of TPWD fisheries management, and the TTBC tournament format furthers that effort. Fish 16 to 24 inches long are weighed on the water by judges and immediately released; anglers are allowed to bring only one fish over 24 inches to the weigh-in. Fish brought to the weigh-in are cared for by TPWD biologists and returned to the lake.
One of the direct results of the TTBC’s catch-weigh- immediate release format is the Major League Fishing circuit, which is fished by Jordon and many of the nation’s top anglers. “The TTBC has had a tremendous impact,” Jordon says. “Major League Fishing is one of the most successful and exciting televised fishing events. Its rules and the way we do things are direct descendants of TTBC. We weigh and immediately release fish. I believe that is the future of competitive fishing.”
“None of this can happen without public support,” said Dave Terre, TPWD’s Inland Fisheries Chief of Management and Research. “By attending the Toyota Texas Bass Classic, you are also supporting TPWD programs such as Neighborhood Fishin’ and the State-Fish Art Contest. In addition to helping make possible these programs that benefit your own family today, you will play a part in passing on the traditions of fishing and good management of our natural resources to future generations. They and we thank you.”
Single-day general admission tickets are $8 in advance (online) and $15 at the door, Saturday through Monday of the tournament weekend. Three-day general admission passes are available at Brookshire’s Grocery Stores, Kim’s Convenience Stores and Academy Sports + Outdoors throughout East Texas for $15. VIP ticket options are available. Children ages 15 and under will be given free admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult. In honor of Memorial Day weekend, military members and their families will be given free admission all weekend.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com or by calling the TTBC tournament office at (866) 907-0143.
Sponsors include Toyota, Bass Pro Shops, Nitro Boats, Wood County Industrial Commission, Anheuser-Busch, LEER Truck Caps, The Coca-Cola Company, Tellespen, GoPro, HOLT CAT, JBL, GEICO, Brookshire’s Grocery Company, Kim’s Convenience Stores, Academy Sports + Outdoors, Allied Waste Systems, Peoples Telephone Cooperative, TLC Media, Tyler Morning Telegraph, 105.7 KYKX, The Ranch KKUS 104.1, KMOO 99.9 and the Sabine River Authority.
Information on the 2015 TTBC and photos and videos of the 2013 and 2014 events are posted at www.toyotatexasbassclassic.com.
On the Net:
The Anticipated Annual Rotary Spelling Bee Coming Soon
The anticipated annual Rotary Spelling Bee will happen on Thursday May 7th, 2015. Make sure you still have your tickets.
Keep checking with KSST am 1230 and KSSTRadio.com for more information.
Top Honors Awarded At All-Sports Banquet
Football and baseball standout Larry Pryor won the Forrest Gregg MVP Award for a Wildcat and basketball and volleyball player Desi Debase and softball and basketball player Kasey Moore shared the Forrest Gregg MVP Award for a Lady Cat at the Sulphur Springs All-Sports Banquet Monday night.
Distance runner Madeline Massey received the James Cameron Fighting Heart Award for a Lady Cat and football player Landon Watkins, standout golfer Garrett Landers and football and baseball player Carson Hicks shared the James Cameron Fighting Heart Award for a Wildcat. All coaches introduced their teams and named MVPs
Curriculum Changes Approved by PJC Regents
A requirement by the State of Texas to offer 60-hour degrees led to curriculum changes approved by the Paris Junior College Board of Regents on Monday evening.
Adopted were changes to certificates in Business, Cosmetology, Jewelry, Computer Science, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Radiology, HVAC, Drafting/CAD, Mechatronics, Plumbing, and Welding after a presentation by PJC Dean of Workforce Education John Spradling.
“We took the opportunity to realign our certificates and create ‘stackable credentials,’” Spradling said. “that gives the student a way through their curriculum to stop out and enter the workforce if need be. They can come back later to finish the associate’s degree and increase their earning power or employability.”
Newly created certificates include Entrepreneurship, Business Management, Jewelry Repair Technician, CAD Technician, 3D Prototyping and CAD Specialist.
Two certificates, Advanced Office Applications and Emergency Medical Technician – Intermediate, were eliminated. The first was terminated due to low participation and the availability of courses in other programs. The second was removed after the State of Texas did away with it.
In other business, the Regents:
- Approved proposed 2015-2016 room and board per semester rates with no increase to room costs and a six percent increase in board (meal plan) rates. The increase reflects the Aramark contract approved last month; a 15-meal plan will cost $1,612 and a 19-meal plan will cost $1,871.
- Accepted a one-year extension to the contract with Nebraska Book Company for operation of the college bookstore with two changes: a minimum guarantee of revenue to PJC has been removed and PJC will now receive six percent of all sales. Next January PJC will go out for new contracts for bookstore operations.
- Approved a revision of the core curriculum removing Learning Frameworks and instead making it an institutional requirement for graduation, while also changing it from one hour to three hours. Exemptions were also created for veterans, transfer students with more than 12 hours, older adults, and former PJC students attending in 2006 or before. Also switched from the core to the institutional requirement curriculum was a basic computer science class, COSC 1301.
“This way we can deliver these courses to everyone needing them while still giving us flexibility to allow individual students to substitute a course from their field of study,” said PJC Dean of Math and Sciences Ed McCraw.
- Received a list of end of semester events as follows: May 12 – GED Graduation, 7 p.m. in the Ray Karrer Theater; May 14 – Jewelry Awards Ceremony, 10 a.m. in the Ray Karrer Theater; Medical Records Coding and Surgical Technology Pinning, 1 p.m. in the Workforce Training Center, Room 1202; Associate Degree Nursing Pinning, 5 p.m. in the Paris Junior High School Weger Auditorium; and Licensed Vocational Nursing Pinning, 7 p.m. in the PJC Hunt Center; and May 15 – PJC Graduation at 7 p.m. in Noyes Stadium (or the Hunt Center if it rains).
- Approved the resignations/retirements of Electromechanical Instructor Donald Harootunian and Psychology Instructor Doris Helm effective May 15, Retired Senior Volunteer Program Director Susan Kahn effective July 1, and Off-Campus Librarian Jay Strickland effective April 24.
AgriLife Extension: Botulism and Canned Goods
On April 21, 2015, a church potluck dinner in Ohio resulted in the death of one elderly female and 23 others hospitalized due to a case of Botulism. The food borne disease is believed to have originated from home-canned potatoes used in potato salad.
Botulism is deadly food poisoning caused by bacterium (botulinum) growing on improperly canned meats and other preserved foods. It greatly affects infants and small children, elderly individuals, people with chronic health illness, and pregnant women. It is one of the deadliest of food borne illnesses, and is not restricted to any one type of canned food, but it is easily prevented by following proper canning procedures.
“You want to boil the jars and boil the lids to keep them hot until you are ready to use it,” Johanna Hicks, Family & Consumer Sciences Agent of Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, said. “There are different kinds of packing procedures for different foods. Some of them can do a cold pack while others use a hot pack; some use syrup and others use juice. So it can get kind of complicated because it depends on the actual type of food.”
The most important sign as to whether or not the proper canning procedures have been followed depends on if the lids of stored lids pop after time in storage.
“Once they have been set out, if they don’t seal, if you don’t hear that little pop meaning that the lid has sucked in, then that means that it was not processed properly, or that the lid may have not been screwed on correctly, or something may have been around the rim of the jar that wasn’t wiped off before it was processed,” Hicks said. “So there could be any number of reasons why it didn’t actually seal.”
Botulism, along with listeria, which became a recent problem for the Bluebell company, and six others are common in food that hasn’t been properly processed. All food borne illnesses can be killed with proper heating, even botulism, which can occur even in commercially canned goods.
“Anytime that you see a commercially canned product with a bulging lid, or any sign of rusting, you want to avoid those,” Hicks said. “A lot of stores will put damaged goods in a basket for quick sale. You have to be really careful with those. Some of them will be okay, but if they have a really sharp crease or any signs of water damage, rust, bulging lid, or small cuts in the side, you generally want to avoid those. Even though it is cheap, it’s better to be safe than sorry”
Food borne illnesses, such as botulism, can show signs of symptoms late after digestion, sometimes as late as two weeks. Botulism, among other food borne illnesses, is known to imitate symptoms of common sicknesses.
“The symptoms for all food borne illnesses, especially botulism, are all the same in that they are similar to flu symptoms,” Hicks said. “You get a headache, fever, nausea, diarrhea, which all sounds just like the flu. The only difference is that with food borne illness, it can progressively get worse.”
Steps to prevent food borne illnesses during canning are easy to follow. These steps include sticking only to the recipe and adding nothing extra, starting with clean hands and sterilized equipment, and keep pets and animals away from food and equipment during the canning process.
A food borne illness itself has no taste, smell, or visual signs of contamination. If any home food preserved cans show any of the aforementioned signs of contamination, it is best to discard the product. Further questions about food borne illnesses and canning procedures can be answered by Johanna Hicks at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
Steroid Testing Program Fails the Test
Mar 23, 2015 – by Buddy Kipp
After spending millions of dollars based on claims of rampant steroid use in high schools, the Texas Legislature has been advised to shut down the six-year-old random testing program it began with great fanfare in 2008. Supporters of the program, however, say that the lack of results is their evidence not enough money was spent.
In February the Sunset Advisory Commission (SAC), which investigates the need for the continuation of state agencies and provides recommendations for increased efficiency, submitted it’s report to the 84th Legislature. In this report, the commissioners recommended an abolishment of the University Interscholastic League’s steroid testing program.
The program was enacted in 2008 to reduce steroid use among Texas high school athletes and to educate players, coaches, and parents on its dangers.
However, since the testing began the State of Texas has spent $9.8 million dollars resulting in “positive test results of less than one-third of 1 percent,” according to the commission’s report. These numbers do not exactly indicate rampant “juicing” in our schools.
Texas is one of three states that test for steroids in high schools with Illinois and New Jersey spending around $100,000 per year on their program. Unfortunately for taxpayers, “everything is bigger in Texas.” Our great state currently spends approximately $500,000 per year on the failed program, down from the $6 million spent over the first two years.
Don Hooton, the primary activist that pushed the state to institute the program, blasted the recommendations to abolish the program; “Coaches, schools and politicians have used the abysmal number of positive tests to prove there’s no steroid problem,” said Hooton, “What did we do here? We just lulled the public to sleep.”
Hooton and other proponents of the program believe that the state failed to test for enough drugs to effectively root out the steroid problem. Despite the claims of inadequate testing, Texas has increased the total number of drugs tested for from 10 at the program’s inception to the current number of 60. Even with the increase in drugs tested for, the tests netted two positives out of 2633 tested students.
As the commission observes, “Changing attitudes in Texas and nationally toward steroid use have resulted in reduced use among teens.” This fact coupled with the failure to produce results has made the program unnecessary.
State Sen. Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) has filed a bill in the Senate, SB 213, that would discontinue the testing program while leaving in place the education program. In the House, State Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo) has filed HB 3189 that would also fulfill the Sunset Advisory Commission’s recommendations.
The original published article can be found here.
PJC – Sulphur Springs Center Offering Classes to Community
During the month of May the Paris Junior College-Sulphur Springs Center Continuing Education Department is offering several classes to the community.
Courses will meet at the campus located at 1202 West Houston. For registration or additional information, call 903-885-1232 or visit www.parisjc.edu/ce.
QuickBooks Level 2 will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Fridays, May 15-29. Learn tracking and selling inventory, errors and refunds, working with balance sheet accounts and handling payroll requirements.
Welcome to the World of Computers is offered from 1 to 4:30 p.m., Fridays, May 15-22. The course is designed for the person with limited computer skills. Students will learn basic computer tasks, keyboard techniques, computer lingo and how to navigate the Internet.
The OSHA 30-hour General Industry Outreach Training course is a comprehensive safety program designed for anyone involved in general industry. Specifically devised for safety directors, foremen, and field supervisors; the program provides complete information on OSHA compliance issues. The class meets Monday-Thursday, May 18-21, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Missing State by a Fraction
Two Wildcats and two Lady Cats’ track athletes competed in the Regional Track Meet this past Friday and Saturday at UT Arlington. Hurdler Zach Spigner just missed going to state by a fraction of a second.
Matt Young, Wildcat Head Track Coach, Spinger advanced to the finals in the 110and 300 hurdles running a 39.06, finishing second in both prelims. In the finals of the 300’s, he ran a 38.90 and took third. The third place times in an event from each region are compared and the top time qualifies for the third place entry into state competition.
Lady Cats Track Coach Triston Abron said Freshman Monty Taylor placed 9th overall in the Triple Jump. Abron said the Freshman jumped well against upperclassmen. Madeline Massey ran the mile but didn’t qualify for state.
