TWC Releases Guidance on Overpayments Related To Identity Theft
Austin – The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is issuing guidance to individuals who receive notices of overpayment due to identity theft, to clarify the best way to respond to such instances.
Identity theft is on the rise, and scammers are targeting Texans, using stolen information to attempt to gain further information. While TWC identifies and locks down most fraudulent applications, it is possible in certain circumstances that some benefits payments have been paid on these imposter claims. In such situations, Texans who have never applied for unemployment benefits may get a notice of overpayment. These individuals are not responsible to pay these benefits back. They should instead take the following steps:
- Report the fraud immediately using the TWC fraud portal. Note that individuals who report suspected ID theft to TWC do not always receive a call, email, or letter in response to the information provided. However, they can be assured that the imposter claim is handled as quickly as possible to lock the claim and to prevent payment. TWC will only contact you if additional information is needed regarding the claim.
- There is no need to respond to the overpayment letters or to file an appeal provided you did not apply for benefits. These letters will cease after TWC verifies the fraud and locks down the account.
- If you have applied for benefits or received them recently, but are still the victim of ID theft, TWC might need more information to verify that the overpayment is connected to the fraudulent account and not to you. Please contact TWC in one of the following ways:
- Call: 512-936-3338
- Fax: 512-936-3799
- Email: [email protected].
All Texans should take steps to secure their identities online by practicing internet security best practices. Treat your TWC account and all accounts like you would your bank account.
If you think you have been the victim of identity theft, report it using the TWC fraud and identity theft portal at https://mft.twc.state.tx.us/form/UIfraudENG.
The Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency dedicated to helping Texas employers, workers and communities prosper economically. For details on TWC and the services it offers in coordination with its network of local workforce development boards, call 512-463-8942 or visit www.texasworkforce.org. To receive notifications about TWC programs and services subscribe to our email updates.
Winnsboro Police Department Media Report April 26-May 2, 2021
The Winnsboro Police Department media report for the week of April 26-May 2, 2021, included the following activity:
Arrests
- No Arrests
Calls for Service
- The Winnsboro Police Department responded to a total of 153 calls for service during this reporting period.
Citations
- The Winnsboro Police Department issued 28 citations and 37 warnings during this reporting period.
Lady Cats Softball Area Series Date and Location Again Revised
Another change has been made to the Lady Cats Area round playoff against Crandall.
Lady Cats Coach David Carrillo said Tuesday afternoon (May 4) that game 1 of the series will now take place on Thursday and it will be occurring at Nevada Community starting at 7:30 p.m.
Game 2 is now taking place at Nevada Community on Friday at 7:30 P.M.
Game 3, if necessary, will take place at the series’s original location of Royse City at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday, May 8.
Again, Games 1 and 2 of the Area round series with Crandall has changed locations to Nevada Community on Thursday, May 7 at 7:30 P.M. and Friday, May 8 at 7:30, respectively. If necessary, game 3 will tee off in Royse City at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday.
KSST is proud to be the official Wildcat and Lady Cat Station. We broadcast Sulphur Springs ISD games year round live on radio. When allowed, we also broadcast games via our YouTube channel.
Hopkins County Health Care Foundation Purchases Panda Warmers For The Labor And Delivery Unit
By Shannon Barker, Executive Director, Hopkins County Healthcare Foundation
Sulphur Springs, Texas, May 3, 2021 – It’s 6 weeks post Gala Unmasked and the Hopkins County Health Care Foundation is delighted to announce the purchase of 5 new iRes Bedded Panda Warmers for the CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital Sulphur Springs Labor and Delivery Unit. Members of the Health Care Foundation Board met with some of the CHRISTUS Labor and Delivery Team to present the check on Monday, May 3. These warmers are one of the projects the Foundation is raising money for this year and with the money raised during Gala Unmasked, the purchase was made possible.
The Panda Warmers offer an all in one solution for weight, temperature and oxygen level, bringing the caliber of care that we offer our young families to a new level. The new warmers convert to “incubators” for our premature babies and support our Level 2 NICU and will allow us to keep babies as early as 30-32 weeks at our hospital. The current equipment was outdated and the limited functionality was not only inconvenient, but provided additional challenges the doctors and nurses had to overcome when they needed to take immediate action with a baby in distress.
It is thanks to our incredibly generous community that we can offer this gift and this new level of care not only to our hospital, but to our youngest patients.
The Foundation is still working to raise money for 5 Birthing Beds and a new CT Scanner. To learn more about these projects and how you can help, please visit CT Scanner Initiative (christushealth.org) and Labor & Delivery Bed Warmers Initiative (christushealth.org) or contact Shannon Barker at 903-438-4799.
Paxton Sues Biden Administration Over Dictating Texas Tax Policy In Federal COVID-19 Relief Law
AUSTIN – Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over a provision in the federal government’s American Rescue Plan Act. Though the Act generally assists Texans recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, one provision — the Tax Mandate — specifically demands that Texas not use funds received through the Act to “directly or indirectly” offset tax revenue reduction caused by changes in tax policy. This condition prohibits Texas and other states with similar low-tax models of governance from cutting taxes for years to come on pain of losing billions in COVID-19 relief.
“This is yet another attempt by the federal government to unlawfully exert control over how sovereign states operate. While hiding behind a deceptively friendly name, the Act effectively removes Texas’s ability to lower taxes while granting Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen power to take back federal aid funds if they disagree with state tax policies. For Texas, which successfully operates on a low-tax model and continually finds ways to reduce tax burdens on citizens, the Tax Mandate is particularly intrusive,” said Attorney General Paxton. “By design, Congress lacks the power to assert control over states and cannot coerce a state into adopting a policy. The Tax Mandate, which does precisely that, blatantly violates the Constitution and cannot stand.”
The threat created by the Tax Mandate not only prohibits Texas from eliminating taxes, reducing tax rates, or increasing tax credits, it also prohibits the adoption of enforcement policies regarding taxes that would lead to reduced revenues. For example, if Texas decided not to enforce a given unemployment or payroll tax against a struggling small business or to reduce property taxes in a district, the state would be stripped of funding meant to assist those recovering from the pandemic.
To read a copy of the filing, click here.
Sulphur Springs Woman Jailed On A Probation Warrant
A 35-year-old Sulphur Springs woman was jailed on a probation warrant Monday.
Sulphur Springs Police Officer Sean Hoffman reported seeing Heather Lynn Franks get into a vehicle on Church Street just before 8:20 a.m. May 3, 2021. Aware the woman had at on point had a warrant for her arrest, Hoffman confirmed the warrant was still active. He then stopped the vehicle Franks was in two blocks down the road, Hoffman noted in arrest reports.
Franks, who is also known by Heather Franks Love, was taken into custody and jailed on a probation warrant. She was held in Hopkins County jail Tuesday afternoon, May 4, 2021, on the second-degree felony warrant for violation of probation, which she was on for a January 2015 engaging in organized activity charge, according to jail reports.
KSSTRadio.com publishes Sulphur Springs Police Department reports and news. The Police Department is located at 125 Davis St., Sulphur Springs, Texas. Non-emergency calls can be made to (903) 885-7602.
If you have an emergency dial 9-1-1.
The Sulphur Springs Police Department continues to serve its citizens with pride in its overall mission and will strive to provide the best possible police force in the 21st century.
If you have an emergency, dial 9-1-1
The Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office is located at 298 Rosemont Sulphur Springs, TX 75482. You can reach them for non-emergency matters at (903) 438-4040.
Showing Appreciation To Teachers
Sulphur Springs ISD Education Foundation may not have been able to assist educators in the manner they are used to, they couldn’t let the week pass without showing appreciation to teachers for all their extra work to help school go flow as normally as possible, especially during the extraordinary circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Normally, we would award Innovative Teaching Grants to teachers during the school year”, said Board Member Gena Prickette. “During the 2020-2021 school year, all teaching was innovative! We want to personally thank them for everything they’ve accomplished this year. We look forward to awarding our Grants for Great Ideas program next fall.”
When they learned that Engie, the company responsible for the planned Hopkins County Solar Project in the Dike area, had expressed an interest in way to become more involved in and give back to the local community, SSISD Education Foundation contacted company officials to see if they’d be interested in helping show appreciation to teachers this week by helping to underwrite costs of offering snacks for all district teachers throughout the week. A partnership was formed between the two for this week for that purpose.
“Thank you for your faithful service to the children and parents of Hopkins County during this difficult year,” sponsoring partner Engie Hopkins County Solar Project commented in a release about the Teacher Appreciation effort. “The Hopkins Energy Solar Project is proud to partner with you, the teachers and staff of the Sulphur Springs Independent School District, in generating a brighter future for young minds.”
SSISD Education Foundation members will take turns visiting a different campus each day this week around 2 p.m. to offer teachers a small treat and personal thank you for their faithful service to local children and parents during a difficult year.
Monday, Education Foundation members visited the halls of Sulphur Springs High School with two rolling carts, offering refreshments to teachers and personally saying thank you to each one.
One cart was filled with iced and cooled sodas, bottled water and juice; and another filled with just about every kind of prepackaged individual concessions items one could imagine, including various kinds of chips (Funyuns, Doritos, Ruffles, Lays, Fritos, etc.), Ritz treats, chocolate covered pretzels, Reese’s peanut butter cups, Hershey’s miniatures and Kisses, and movie theater sized boxes of candies ranging from Swedish Fish to several different kinds of M&Ms, Starburst, Skittles and Sour Patch candy.
The Education Foundation plans to visit Douglass Early Childhood Learning Center and Bowie on Tuesday, Middle School on Wednesday, Travis and Sulphur Springs Elementary on Thursday, Bush Primary ad Lamar on Friday, and will be at Austin Academic Center at different times throughout the week.
The SSISD Education Foundation is a 501c3 non profit organization supporting Sulphur Springs ISD. You can contribute online at www.ssisdeducationfoundation.com or by emailing [email protected] for more information.
Texas Ranger Ticket Giveaway #3
KSST has Texas Ranger Baseball tickets available for the Friday May 7th, 2021 game against the Mariners.
This years tickets will be offered in a digital format. To be a winner, you will need to download and install the Offical MLB Ball Park App for your smart device. Think of the app as a digital wallet for your tickets.
How to Win
Like KSST and this post on Facebook to enter. Winners will be chosen at random. Remember, you will need to provide a valid email address, and that email must be linked to your MLB Ballpark app.
The Process
Once you win, KSST will forward the digital ticket information to your email. Your MLB Ballpark app will accept the ticket information and store them until you need them. You will need to take your device to the ballpark to display the QR code at the gate. Get all the details at MLB.COM
Just to be clear, KSST and KRVA did not receive paper tickets, so we can not furnish paper tickets to our winners.
All 5 SSHS Competitors Medal At The 2021 State Academic UIL Contest
Literary Criticism Team Earns State Championship
All five of the Sulphur Springs High School Academic UIL Team who competed Saturday, May 1, at the 2021 State Academic UIL Meet Competition returned home with medals. One team came back with a State Championship and one student placed in three events.
The SSHS Literary Criticism Team composed of Matthew Harper, Kendall Little (senior class salutatorian), Shelby Ray and Dawson Carpenter and coached by Gail Herman, earned the State Championship Saturday.
“Not only did they win a state team championship, but they did it in an impressive fashion by sweeping the top 4 individual places in the event. Junior Dawson Carpenter finished 4th, junior Shelby Ray finished 3rd, senior Kendall Little finished 2nd, and senior Matthew Harper earned his second career State Championship in Literary Criticism,” Gerald Grafton, SSHS UIL Campus Coordinator, reported Tuesday morning.
This is particularly notable because this marks the marking the sixth consecutive and the the seventh time in the last nine years SSHS teams have won in literary criticism at state, although school activities were suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saturday marked Matthew Harper’s second time to be named the individual state champion in literary criticism. He also was named the 2019 lit crit champ after earning the highest score of any student competing in any classification, according to SSHS literary criticism coach Gail Herman. Harper is Herman’s fourth student to be named individual state champion in literary criticism.
In Journalism events, senior Matthew Harper (the class valedictorian) placed in two events. He finished 2nd place in Headline Writing and 5th Place in Copy Editing. Journalism competitors are coached by Gail Herman and Madison Millsap.
In Social Studies, sophomore Alfredo Renteria finished 2nd place in the state.
“Alfredo has worked extremely hard over the year and posted his personal record at the state meet, boosting his previous best score by a significant amount. Social Studies is coached by Madison Millsap,” Grafton credited.
Junior AllieGrace Woodard has two entries still in play for State Theatrical Design competition. Those awards will be announced May 10.
“Congratulations to all our state winners,” Grafton noted.
| Event | Student | Place |
|---|---|---|
| Copy Editing | Matthew Harper | 5th |
| Social Studies | Alfredo Renteria | 2nd |
| Headline Writing | Matthew Harper | 2nd |
| Literary Criticism | Matthew Harper | State Champion |
| Kendall Little | 2nd | |
| Shelby Ray | 3rd | |
| Dawson Carpenter | 4th | |
| Team | State Champion |
Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County Weathers Storm Relatively Unscathed
Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County weathered Monday night’s storm relatively unscathed, despite a deluge of rain and high winds, according to local officials.
The National Weather Service reported winds 87 mile per hour wind gusts were observed at Sulphur Springs Municipal Airport at 11:04 p.m. Monday, May 3, 2021. At 11:08 p.m., severe thunderstorms extended along a line from Tira to Sulphur Springs and Yantis at 35 miles per hour at 11:08 p.m. May 3, 2021. The NWS cautioned Hopkins County, Cooper, Emory and Deport residents to watch for flying debris during 80 mile per hour wind gusts, which could cause damage to mobile homes, roofs, windows, vehicles and extensive tree damages as quarter sized hail was possible.
For the most part, in Sulphur Springs a few trees were blown down and small twigs and branches from shrubbery and trees were downed on roads. City work crews reported only three trees had been discovered on city streets. The city manger reported no other damages had been reported at 9 a.m. Tuesday on city facilities. A few residences did have downed trees and debris from bushes and shrubs, and a few fences also were toppled.
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office reported a tree down across the north Interstate 30 service road which was cleared from the road by deputies, then removed the rest of the way later by Texas Department of Transportation officials. Trees were also removed from County Road 4760 and County Road 4761 in Precinct 4. A large cedar fell on County Road 2310, with enough of it removed to make the road passable; a Precinct 2 crew had been alerted to clear the remaining portion of the road. Trees had also been reported down and blocking on lane of State Highway 11 at County Road 4706, County Road 4706, and obstructed the roadway in two different places on County Road 4759.
Oncor also reported a few sporadic power outages were also reported across Hopkins County. At 9:30 a.m. May 4, Oncor reported 279 of the 13,267 customers were without power. The estimated time of restoration was unknown. Wood County Electric Cooperative was reported to have one outages in the area at 9:30 a.m. No known power outages had been reported by other utility providers serving Hopkins County.
Sulphur Springs ISD notified parents that the power was out at Barbara Bush Primary, so students would not report for class on Tuesday.
“We found out early and got it out. A few kids had already gotten on buses but were were able to take care of them,” SSISD Assistant Superintendent Josh Williams said.
The cause of the power outages at the school had yet to be determined shortly before 10 a.m. but crews were working to restore power to the facility. The electric service was also reported to be out in the athletic complex behind Bush Primary, which included the baseball and softball fields and track. Some tree limbs were felled onto district campuses by the wind. The district’s phone systems was out early in the morning but had been restored by 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.
Small bits of limbs, twigs and clusters of leaves and straw were scattered about roadways across the region, but no reports of injuries had been made to local authorities as of 9 a.m. Tuesday. Tall grass also was flattened in places where the high wind blew through Monday night. County officials were still assessing to determine if there were any significant damages resulting from the 80 mile per hour wind gusts Monday night. Some ditches and creeks filled and the usual low places were covered during the storm by the rapid deluge of rainfall.
