62nd District Court April 20th Jury Cancelled
April 20, 2015 at 9:00 A.M. for the 62nd District Court,
Judge Will Biard has been cancelled.
Wet Field Conditions Stymie Bright Star Baseball
Rain… Rain… Go away… Bright Star Baseball would love to play… but due to wet field conditions Monday night, April 13, will find the boys and girls idle again. These games are not scheduled to be made up. Bright Star Baseball is currently seeking funds to build an all weather field for games.
Be Prepared for Those RMDs
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You might not think that 70 ½ represents any particular milestone. But when you do reach this age, you will have to make some decisions that affect an important aspect of your life — your retirement income. Here’s the background: Once you turn 70 ½, you will need to start taking withdrawals from your 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan and from your traditional IRA (but not your Roth IRA). Actually, you will need to begin these withdrawals — known as “required minimum distributions” (RMDs) — by April 1 of the following year and continue taking them by December 31 each year after that. These RMDs are calculated by dividing your account balance at the end of the previous year by your life expectancy, as determined by IRS mortality tables. If your spouse is your sole beneficiary and is more than 10 years younger than you, you’d use a separate table. Don’t worry too much about the number crunching, though — your financial advisor generally can do the calculations for you. What you should concern yourself with, however, are the first two words of RMD: “required” and “minimum.” These words mean what they say. If you don’t take withdrawals, or if you withdraw less than you should, you could face a 50 percent penalty tax on the difference between what you withdrew and what you should have withdrawn — and then you’ll still have to take out the required amount and pay taxes on the taxable portions of those withdrawals. So it’s a very good idea to take your withdrawals on time — and without “shortchanging” yourself. Of course, you can certainly take more than the required minimum amount — but should you? The answer depends on whether you need the money. But even if you have to take larger-than-minimum withdrawals, you’ll want to be careful not to take out more than you need — because if you “over-withdraw” year after year, you run the risk of outliving your resources. That’s why it’s so important, during the early years of your retirement, to establish a sustainable withdrawal rate for your retirement accounts. Your withdrawal rate will depend on a variety of factors, such as your other sources of income — Social Security, earnings from employment, savings, etc.— your lifestyle choices, your estimated longevity, and so on. In any case, once you have arrived at an appropriate withdrawal rate, you’ll need to stick to that rate unless your circumstances change. If you have multiple IRAs, you’ll also face another decision, because, once you’ve calculated your total RMDs for the year, from all your IRAs, you can take that amount from one or more of them. Depending on the investment mix of these individual IRAs, you may find it beneficial to take the money from one account and leave the others intact, to potentially grow further. (If you have multiple 401(k)s, though, you will likely need to calculate and withdraw the separate RMDs for each plan.) Other issues are also involved with RMDs, so, when the time approaches, consult with your tax and financial advisors. By studying all your options before you begin taking these withdrawals, you should be able to maximize their benefits. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones Financial Advisor.
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Sunday Night Thunderstorms
Sunday night (April 12) Thunderstorms are expected to move across Central and North Texas tonight. Severe thunderstorms are not expected. A few strong storms are possible. Small hail, cloud to ground lightning and locally heavy rainfall are the main threats.
Should severe thunderstorms develop, tune to KSST 1230 AM or click on KSST streaming for continuous coverage.
Saltillo Scholarship Auction
Auctioneer Travis Mitchell helps his alma-mater raise scholarship funds for Saltillo students who will graduate in the Class of 2015. The Kerry Garmon Memorial gymnasium was packed for the annual event on April 11.
*UPDATE* Will McDonald’s Protests Come to Sulphur Springs?
McDonald’s Corp. announced April 1, 2015 that 90,000 of the 750,000 McDonald’s employees would receive a pay raise of one dollar above the local minimum wage starting in July, eventually reaching over $10 an hour. This pay raise only applies to establishments officially owned by the McDonald’s Corperation. Any franchise establishments that are owned by individuals are left out of this raise, unless the franchise owner decides to raise the minimum wage as well.
In response to this, protests have erupted in 12 major cities in anger of this exclusive offer pay raise. Protesters demand that the minimum wage be raised to $15 for all establishments, and they demand that they be given the right to form unions without the risk of retaliation. Protesters announced on that April 15, 2015 would see the largest protest with over 200 McDonald’s establishments around the nation going on strike.
The McDonald’s establishment located in Sulphur Springs is owned by a franchise. Repeated attempts to contact the owner of the franchise have failed. However, the general manager has assured that no protests will halt business at the Sulphur Springs establishment or any other establishments owned by the franchise.
SSHS Tennis Open New Courts April 25
The Wildcats’ tennis team is inviting the community to join them for a grand opening for the new High School Tennis Complex on Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m. Wildcats Tennis Coach Tony Martinez said the day would also be Senior Day. There will be free hamburgers. Mt. Pleasant will take on the Wildcats in a dual match on the new courts. Coach Martinez said the courts just lack some windscreens and bleachers right now.
The Wildcats’ tennis team qualified no players for regional but did claim a consolation championship at the District tournament in Longview Tuesday and Wednesday. Drew Sant, Jessie Allen and Abby Martin advanced to the second round before losing to Texas High players who later qualified for regional. The senior girls doubles team of Grace Horton and Morgan Sutton won a consolation final, 8-2 over Hallsville.
Seven Lady Cats on All-District Soccer Team
Seven Lady Cats soccer players were named to the All-District Team by the district’s coaches. Senior Esmaralda Sanchez was selected a First Team forward. Second Team selections included senior midfielders Grace Grafton and Kinzi Irving, senior defender Hattie Schulz and sophomore goalkeeper Abbi Hale. Honorable Mention selections included senior forwards Myranda Pierce and Star Resendiz.
Wildcat Tennis Season Ends at District Tourney
The Wildcats’ tennis team did not have any regional qualifiers at this week’s District Tennis Tournament in Longview. One Wildcat team did win a consolation final match.
Tony Martinez, coach, said it was a tough week for the local team. He said that Texas High placed first and Longview second. The Wildcat losses came in extended matches against the top two teams. Wildcat individuals and doubles teams made it to the semi-finals or finals in every levels. Martinez has a young team of sophomores to work with for the next two years.
SSHS One-Act Play Does Not Advance
The Sulphur Springs High School One-Act Play, “Maelstrom”, about the life of Edgar Allan Poe, did not advance at bi-district competition Thursday in Longview. LaShay Woodard, Director of Theater Arts, said it was perhaps the worst day ever. A tornado touching down a few blocks from the Longview theater did not help. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong she said. The show went well but went long. It ended at exactly 40 minutes. Makayla Jones and Liam Pollard won All-Star Cast awards. Jones’ and Pollard’s death scene was well done according to Woodard. Also winning a tech award was Lief Thomas , for his work on lights. Thomas is a freshman.
For the remainder of this year, Woodard said her theater troupe would be preparing for an end of school play.
With renovation beginning in July of this year on their performance auditorium, Woodard said her theater troupe will probably travel to various venues and otherwise improvise as they conduct performances throughout the year 2015-16 school year.
