Hannah Continues!
Hannah Kirby on ‘The Voice’
Citizens of Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, and, yes, the nation, will be on the edge of their seats or standing and dancing when The Voice airs next week. Hannah Kirby was voted into the elite 8 of competition on the NBC television network show that has dominated local social media, thoughts, prayers, and electronic devices in recent weeks.
Hannah’s performance of Shout Monday night once again proved her talent and versatile voice. Competition has been on the mark as well. Several were disappointed in Tuesday night’s choices but no one was disappointed that Hannah will continue.
Tune in next week with your phones handy as our local favorite is put to the challenge once again.
Allen Sentenced to Life in Prison
April 21, 2015 – Late Tuesday afternoon, Robert Dwayne Allen, 46, was sentenced to Life in prison by 8th Judicial District Judge Eddie Northcutt. He is eligible for parole after 30 calendar years and will be credited for the time he has served in Hopkins County Jail. Judge Northcutt found Allen in violation of parole as true and found Allen guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a child, which was the original charge.
ROBERT DWAYNE ALLEN
Allen violated parole beginning in 2014 according to charges. He was found to be in possession child and adult pornography, a felon in possession of a firearm, as well as the aggravated sexual assault of a child, which occurred in 2005.
District Attorney Will Ramsay presented witnesses and evidence to prove Allen had been viewing pornography prior to his arrested in February of this year. In testimony it was stated that Allen admitted to adult probation that he had been viewing pornography three to four hours a day while on probation. The defense sought to prove that Allen was attempting to delete the pornography. However, based on technology available to local sheriff’s investigators they were able to determine, according to their testimony, that some of the deleted items had been transferred to thumb drives and jump drives that were in Allen’s possession at the time of his arrest. He led investigators to the storage devices and firearms found in his home according to testimony given by law enforcement.
Although Allen’s statements to adult probation opened the door to the investigation, Charles Humphrey’s, Sheriff’s Criminal Investigator and Deputy Sgt. Cory Weatherford conducted the investigation. Weatherford, using information gleaned by Humphrey’s forensic investigation of Allen’s iPhone, iPad, and other electronics, noted in testimony that everytime a file is moved there is a file date branded to the item. Weatherford noted that some of the items did show to have been moved from a recycle bin onto drives that were stored by Allen on other devices.
PJC Sulphur Springs Director Confident in Future of Junior Colleges
Dr. Phil Williams, who has lived in Hopkins County for some time, is still pretty new on the job as Director of the Paris Junior College Sulphur Springs Center. He became director February 9th after serving 12 years as Chair of the Department of Kenisiology at Dallas Baptist University. Prior to his time at DBU, he was Head Coach for Track and Field at East Texas State, now Texas A & M University-Commerce for 16 years. He completed his doctorate while in commerce.
He has lived near the Emblem Community growing grapes and blackberries since his time at ETSU. He and his wife have a small winery, which he calls a hobby. For 12 years, he drove 102 miles one way and now drives 12 miles to his office.
Dr. Williams said he believes the junior college or community college will offer more to the future than four year schools. Impressed with the impact of the junior college, he applied when the job opened. He said this is a good fit and he feels the Lord led him to this position.
Saltillo’s Jones Advances to State 1-A Golf Tourney
SB1158 Goes Before Senate Finance Committee
“Give us a chance to vote,” was the plea of Hopkins County Judge Robert Newsom as he addressed the Texas State Senate Finance Committee Tuesday morning in Austin. Senate Bill 1158, which allows voters in Hopkins County to cast ballots related to an increase in sales tax or continue with the 7-cent increase in property tax that will fund construction of the new jail presently under construction.
District Senator Bob Hall introduced SB1158 Tuesday as he told the Finance Committee that after 22 meetings in Hopkins County between commissioner’s court and the public it was the desire of most of the citizens for a sales tax increase to be implemented. Voters in Hopkins County did approve a 7-cent per $100 evaluation tax increase to fund the jail a new jail in the county last year.
Following Hall, County Commissioners Danny Evans, Beth Wisenbaker, and Wade Bartley, along with County Judge Newsom addressed the committee stating that as land owners, commissioners, and business people, they thought the citizens of the county should be given the opportunity to vote for or against an increase in sales tax.
Opposing the bill, John Kennedy, with the Texas Tax Payers Research Association, said that SB1158 is not a local issue but a state issue. Since 1987, counties could impose sales tax and Kennedy said that currently 123 counties utilize the sales tax option. He thinks that should the county be given the right to vote, then it would take the sales tax out of the hand of the state and put it in the hands of local government only.
Commissioner Precinct 1 Beth Wisenbaker addresses Texas Senate Finance Committee regarding SB1158: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
KSST Radio News Story:
Allen Faces Child Porn Charges in 8th Judicial District Court Tuesday Morning
ROBERT DWAYNE ALLEN
On the Tuesday morning docket for 8th Judicial District Court Tuesday April 21 at 9 a.m., Robert Dwayne Allen, 46, faces one count of improper photo/video in a bath/dressing room, five counts of possession child pornography, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child. According to District Attorney Will Ramsay, Allen had been on probation for the aggravated sexual assault, which occurred in 2005, when he was arrested in February of this year on the new chargers. Charges against Allen are all that are on the morning docket and Ramsay expects the various matters to be resolved either before noon or shortly after noon.
Indecency With A Child Charges Filed Monday
April 20, 2015 – A 36-year old Como man and a 21-year old Sulphur Springs man were arrested Monday for indecency with a child by sexual contact. Bond was set for David Dwayne Coker of Como and Juddson Brice Maloney of Sulphur Springs at $50,000. Maloney was arrested at his residence on FM 2285 at 5 p.m. Monday. The alleged offense against him occurred on January 9. Coker was arrested on FM 69 South Monday at 5:37 p.m. The arrest report listed the date of the offense against him as April 13 of last year.
COKER, DAVID DWAYNE
David Dwayne Coker
Maloney was arrested at his residence on FM 2285 at 5 p.m. Monday. The alleged offense against him occurred on January 9.
Juddson Maloney
*Updated* It Just Gets Worse for Blue Bell
Blue Bell Creameries has just recalled every product that they make. EVERY Blue Bell product, regardless of manufacturing location or date has been recalled. They have issued a statement to discard and not consume any Blue Bell products. A check of the Blue Bell website was unsuccessful as their website seems to have crashed based on this news and certainly the number of people trying to gain access to the latest info. We will keep you posted on any news of when they may begin production again. The following statement appeared on the Blue Bell website explaining the reason for the full product recall.
Official Statement from Blue Bell Website:
For Immediate Release
News Media Contact: Joe Robertson, 979-830-9830, [email protected]
Consumer Contact: 1-866-608-3940
BLUE BELL CREAMERIES VOLUNTARILY EXPANDS RECALL TO INCLUDE ALL OF ITS PRODUCTS DUE TO POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK
BRENHAM, Texas, April 20, 2015 –Blue Bell Ice Cream of Brenham, Texas, is voluntarily recalling all of its products currently on the market made at all of its facilities including ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and frozen snacks because they have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.
“We’re committed to doing the 100 percent right thing, and the best way to do that is to take all of our products off the market until we can be confident that they are all safe,” said Paul Kruse, Blue Bell CEO and president. “We are heartbroken about this situation and apologize to all of our loyal Blue Bell fans and customers. Our entire history has been about making the very best and highest quality ice cream and we intend to fix this problem. We want enjoying our ice cream to be a source of joy and pleasure, never a cause for concern, so we are committed to getting this right.”
The products being recalled are distributed to retail outlets, including food service accounts, convenience stores and supermarkets in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming and international locations.
Today’s decision was the result of findings from an enhanced sampling program initiated by Blue Bell which revealed that Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream half gallons produced on March 17, 2015, and March 27, 2015, contained the bacteria. This means Blue Bell has now had several positive tests for Listeria in different places and plants and as previously reported five patients were treated in Kansas and three in Texas after testing positive for Listeria monocytogenes.
Hannah is Our Freak !!
Have you ever wondered, if Janet Jackson sang with Tears For Fears???? Well now is your chance. I must admit I was a little worried about Hannah choosing a song that is so recognizable in the way that Tears For Fears performed it back in the 80’s!!! But once again, Hannah blows us all away with making us forget how anyone else ever performed such a recognizable song. She completely owned the entire performance, even with her Janet Jackson outfit. Christina tells Hannah that she is growing up right before her eyes, and she is correct. Hannah has an uncanny calm stage presence and hits every note as she walks through the crowd. Her coach, Blake Shelton, even remarks that his eyes would “pop out of his head” if he tried to do what she does. He refers to her as a “Freak of Nature” and she certainly is. Once the show is over, go to iTunes and download Hannah’s version of “Shout”, I bet those English guys that were in Tears For Fears are going to be downloading it…. How did their version go again????
Also, check out Jordan Owens’ interview last week with Hannah
Option County Jail Sales Tax Resolution Unanimous
On April 13, 2015, the Commissioners Court of Hopkins County, Texas endorsed S.B. 1158, a resolution that would provide Hopkins County Texas voters with the opportunity to determine whether to fund the county jail obligation through a local option sales tax, instead of property taxes. The resolution was passed with a vote of 5 to 0.
Back in November, 2013, Hopkins County approved general obligation bonds to fund the $16 million construction cost of the Hopkins County Jail. The payment of the principal and interest on the obligations required a property tax rate of $0.06 per 100 property valuation. Furthermore, the obligations fell solely on home owners and business owners of Hopkins County.
Therefore, a local option sales tax, approved by voters, will allow all who purchase goods and services to take part in the payment of the facility’s cost. S.B. 1158 specifically limits the proceeds from the sales tax to the payment of the county jail bonds, and the adoption of the local sales tax would result in an automatic reduction in the property tax. The resolution also ensures that the sales tax not exceed one-half cent per dollar in sales.
Once the county jail obligations have been paid off, the sales tax would be automatically abolished. Ultimately, the decision on whether or not to use the sales tax opportunity falls to Hopkins County voters, and the sales tax will be evenly spread out across all citizens.
