Your Wildcats took on Mabank in Basketball Action December 17th
December 22, 2024 – The Sulphur Springs High School Wildcats took on Mabank in Basketball action Tuesday, December 17, 2024. Below is KSST’s coverage of the game. Sports Director John Mark Dempsey called Play by Play and Tony Flippin offered his expertise in Color Commentary. Be sure to check out the exciting game below!
Get your Garden Ready for Onions in 2025 From Master Gardener David Wall
December 21, 2024 – Onions are a fun crop to grow, requiring minimal soil preparation and very little maintenance. They tolerate most soils and transplant extremely well. They have a history possibly exceeding 5,000 years, so they’ve been around awhile, and it’s hard to imagine many foods without them. There are many varieties, and new varieties seemed to be in continual development.
Typical varieties include yellow, white and purple (red). Vedalias are considered tops, but are more expensive and seldom available for transplanting. They usually have to be grown from seed. Your local nurseries and/or hardware stores will usually have several varieties for transplanting around 15 January. Buy what you need and immediately get them in the ground.
Planting onion seeds should have already been accomplished by now, and few of us plant onion bulbs, so let’s looks at transplants. There are numerous onion sets sold in your areas, and all are good, so the choice is yours. For soil, Onions are heavy feeders, so good soil is preferred. For best results in poor soil, amend it with quality compost and add a little slow-release fertilizer. You can grow onions in your garden or almost anywhere they get plenty of sun. They’re great companion plans for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, cabbages & flowers, but should never be grown with peas, beans, asparagus, garlic, shallots or leeks.
Onions do better in raised beds, so simply space transplants 4” apart and 1” deep. You can go deeper, but final bulb sizes seem to be smaller. Seedling bulb size when transplanting is NOT an indication of the final bulb size. For a planting example, put a pin where a tomato plant will be located in May. Then, press the tomato cage in the soil. The plant and cage are now known, so put the transplants everywhere else!!!
Party Over for Party City
December 20, 2024 – Location across the US will be closing soon, more than a year after Party City exited bankruptcy.
Party City Holdings, Inc., had previously filed for bankruptcy in early January 2023, but emerged from Chapter 11 in September of that year. Plans to reorganize were approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
CEO Barry Litwin told corporate employee that today was their last day of employment with the company. It was not clear when Party City locations would be shuttering. It is being reported that they will not receive severance pay and their benefits will end when the company goes out of business.
KSST & Cable Channel 18’s Coverage of Christmas in Sulphur Springs
December 20, 2024 – It’s the best time of the year! Christmas! Check out KSST’s and Cable Channel 18’s coverage of Christmas activities in Sulphur Springs, Texas, in 2024…
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Reminder: Texas Vehicle Inspection Changes Coming Soon
New law eliminates most vehicle safety inspections
December 20, 2024 – AUSTIN, Texas – Beginning January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners will no longer need to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminates the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles. The new law maintains the annual $7.50 safety inspection fee collected at the time of vehicle registration. Texans will see this fee labeled as the Inspection Program Replacement Fee on their registration renewal notice.
Owners registering a new vehicle will pay a $16.75 Inspection Program Replacement Fee to cover the first two years of registration.
State law will still require obtaining a passing vehicle emissions inspection in the following 17 counties prior to vehicle registration: Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Collin County, Galveston County, Parker County, Dallas County, Rockwall County, Harris County, Denton County, Tarrant County, Johnson County, El Paso County, Travis County, Kaufman County, Ellis County, Williamson County and Montgomery County.
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles registers and titles motor vehicles, licenses motor vehicle dealers, credentials motor carriers, issues oversize/overweight permits, investigates complaints against dealers and motor carriers, and awards grants to law enforcement agencies to reduce vehicle burglaries and thefts.
Learn more at www.TxDMV.gov. Subscribe to receive TxDMV news releases via email or text message.
Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller Celebrates an Outstanding Year of Pesticide Waste Removal Events
Texas Department of Agriculture and Texas A&M AgriLife events collect unwanted pesticides
December 20, 2024 – AUSTIN – Today, Commissioner Sid Miller celebrated an outstanding year of pesticide waste removal events conducted by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. These free, public events have allowed Texas agriculture producers to safely dispose of unwanted pesticides and recycle pesticide containers. In total, the events held in Erath, Nueces, and Hidalgo Counties collected over an estimated 312,500 pounds of unused pesticides from 231 participants.
“Providing Texans with the opportunity for safe removal of pesticides is a top priority of my agency,” Commissioner Miller said. “These events represent an easy way for producers to dispose of these dangerous products safely and efficiently. I want to add special thanks to our friends at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service for their collaboration in making these events happen. Together, we made a real difference by keeping Texas clean and preserving our soil quality for agriculture production.”
The most recent removal event was held on December 10th in Hidalgo County with 68 participants who deposited an estimated 76,500 pounds of pesticide waste. These collection events are offered as a drive-up service, allowing individuals to deliver their unwanted agricultural pesticide waste comfortably from inside their vehicles. Pesticides brought for disposal must be in their original containers, even if the label is absent. Unknown pesticides will be tested onsite.
Accepted items included outdated, discontinued, or unwanted agricultural pesticides; insecticides; poisons; herbicides; fungicides; rodenticides; nematicides; growth regulators; and treated seed. Items not accepted included dioxins (2,4-5T, Silvex, TCDD, etc.); fertilizers; fumigant canisters; household hazardous wastes; methyl-bromide cylinders; motor oil; paint; pesticide rinsate; phostoxin; propane or butane cylinders; radioactive substances; or tires.
“Reducing pesticide waste is another way we can do our part to protect water quality, support soil health, and promote overall environmental sustainability,” Commissioner Miller said. “Proper pesticide application and disposal practices help keep Texas clean and safe.”
TDA is the state’s lead agency in regulating pesticide use and application. The agency handles licensing and training pesticide applicators, overseeing worker protection, registering pesticides for sale in the state, and working to minimize unnecessary impacts on agriculture.
AG Files Motion for a Protective Order Preventing Convicted Child Murderer from Testifying
December 20, 2024 – The Office of the Attorney General filed a motion for a protective order to prevent a procedurally deficient and overly burdensome subpoena from enabling a convicted murderer to testify at a House Committee hearing. The filing of the motion automatically excuses the Texas Department of Criminal Justice from complying with the subpoena pending a hearing and resolution of the motion.
Robert Leslie Roberson III is an American man convicted and on death row for the murder of his two-year-old daughter in 2002. Roberson was accused of shaking his daughter and causing her death, and was tried and convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003. He has lost his appeals since.
Robert Roberson was convicted of murdering his two-year-old daughter in 2002 and scheduled to be executed in October 2024. In an unprecedented procedural maneuver intended to end-run the state Constitution and delay his execution, members of the Texas House issued a subpoena calling the convicted murderer to testify in front of their committee on a date after the execution was to take place. The legislative committee then sued to enforce their subpoena, doubling down on their unconstitutional effort to interfere with his death sentence. In November 2024, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the subpoena issued by a Texas House Committee may not interfere with a lawfully ordered execution.
The House members then issued another document purporting to be a subpoena demanding that Roberson be physically brought to the Texas Capitol to testify in person on December 20. In addition to presenting serious security risks, the subpoena is procedurally defective and therefore invalid as it was issued in violation of the House Rules, the Texas Constitution, and other applicable laws.
Governor Abbott Unveils Billboard Campaign To Dissuade Migrants From Making Dangerous Journey To Texas
December 19, 2024 – Austin, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott today unveiled the state’s new billboard campaign in Central America and Mexico to dissuade migrants from making the dangerous journey to illegally cross the border into Texas during a press conference next to a burned down rape tree at Wall Ranch in Eagle Pass.
“Today, we’re here to talk about a new campaign to deter illegal immigration into Texas,” said Governor Abbott. “Yesterday, we began putting up dozens of billboards throughout Mexico and Central America. They give potential illegal immigrants thinking of leaving their home country – and those already on the way – a realistic picture of what will happen to them on their journey or if they illegally cross into Texas. These billboards tell the horror stories of human trafficking. They implore those people in Central America to consider the violent, horrific realities of what will happen to the women and children they bring with them. Through Operation Lone Star, we have done some incredible work to stop illegal border crossers. But this new effort is about stopping their journey from even beginning in the first place. Until President Donald Trump is back in the White House to secure our border once again, we will continue to take every step necessary to defend Texas.”
Displaying a few examples of the billboards at the press conference, the Governor shared that over 40 billboards have been strategically placed in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico and along the Texas-Mexico border. The billboards highlight the dangerous and legal consequences migrants face as they attempt to illegally enter the country and as countless women and children are sexually assaulted by coyotes and smugglers. To reach illegal immigrants coming from all over the world trying to cross into Texas, the billboards are translated into Spanish throughout Central America and Mexico and Arabic, Chinese, and Russian in Northern Mexico and along the Texas-Mexico border.
View the full billboard campaign here.
Governor Abbott was joined at the press conference by ranchers Kimberly and Martin Wall, Texas Association Against Sexual Assault CEO Rose Luna, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Freeman Martin, Adjutant General of Texas Major General Thomas Suelzer, and Texas Border Czar Mike Banks.
“There is a largely unspoken sexual assault crisis impacting women and children migrating to the Texas border,” said Rose Luna. “Acknowledging this issue and its profound impact on survivors is not just crucial—it is our responsibility.”
“There have been several rape trees and lots of women who have been found beaten and raped in front of our house and left to die,” said Kimberly Wall. “It makes you terrified to go out of your own house and enjoy your own property. I know my husband has found three different rape trees and burned them down. You don’t know if you’ll be attacked by one of the men hiding in the brush. We all want a better life for everybody.”
Watch the Governor’s full press conference here.
During the press conference, Governor Abbott pointed to a burned-down rape tree—a spot where migrants are sexually assaulted and their undergarments are then hung on the tree as trophies by coyotes—and highlighted the horrific, dangerous journey migrants take to cross illegally into the United States.
Dinner Bell for December 25, 2024
DINNER BELL, First United Methodist Church
The Angel of the Lord told the Shepherds living in the fields, “I am bringing you news of great joy for all the people. Un to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. From Luke 2: 10-11.
This Christmas message has been repeated for over two thousand years. May it bring joy, peace, and comfort to you and your families.
Merry Christmas from The Dinner Bell at the First United Methodist Church of Sulphur Springs, Texas. There will be no meal service on December25, 2024.
See you on January 8, 2025!
MENU:
We plan to continue inside dining every Wednesday with the exception of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Christ mas and New Years Day.
Take care of YOURSELF by following safe health practices as flu and COVID are lurking in our midst! Wear masks where required! Wash your hands often! Get inoculated and boosted
DINNER BELL CARES ABOUT YOUR HEALTH !!!
Governor Abbott Announces Over $500 Million In Public Safety Grants
December 18, 2024 – Austin, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott today announced that his Public Safety Office (PSO) will administer over $500 million in grant funding for a variety of public safety programs and services in Texas, including victims services, anti-human trafficking efforts, border security, and law enforcement support. This grant funding is made possible through a combination of federal and state dollars.
“Ensuring the safety and security of Texans is our top priority in Texas,” said Governor Abbott. “These public safety grants will provide critical funding to strengthen Texas agencies and organizations as they work to secure the border, prevent human trafficking, ensure justice for victims, and protect Texans from dangerous criminals and violence. With this $500 million in grant funding, we will continue to build a safer Texas for all.”
The grants recently released include, but are not limited to, funding for the following:
- Body-Worn Camera: 98 awards totaling $4.6 million to equip peace officers with body-worn camera systems to document investigative activities.
- Border Fire Zone: 22 awards totaling $3.1 million to assist professional fire departments in the border region with the acquisition of specialized equipment and medical supplies to support emergency services associated with the execution of activities that deter crime in the border region.
- Bullet Resistant Shields: 100 awards totaling $4.9 million to equip peace officers with bullet resistant shields.
- Bullet Resistant Vests: 113 awards totaling $1.8 million to provide peace officers with rifle-resistant body armor to prevent loss of life during tactical and emergency response operations.
- Crime Stoppers Assistance: 33 awards totaling $364,000 to strategically support, expand, and fund local certified Texas Crime Stoppers organizations that help protect Texas communities.
- District Attorney Forensic Evidence Testing: Five awards totaling $519,000 to reimburse district attorney offices for costs associated with the forensic analysis of physical evidence.
- Homeland Security: 316 awards totaling $56.5 million to help prevent terrorism and prepare for the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk to the security of Texas and its citizens. These projects fund equipment, planning, training, exercises, and other activities for local, regional, and state-level agencies and strengthen core capabilities outlined in the National Preparedness Goal.
- Human Trafficking: 46 awards totaling $24.8 million for short- and long-term residential services, advocacy, and case management for survivors of human trafficking in Texas, as well as innovative projects that prevent, investigate, and prosecute the commercial sexual exploitation of people in Texas.
- Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforces: Three awards totaling $900,000 for projects that develop an effective response to technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and Internet crimes against children that encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, and community education.
- Justice Assistance: 231 awards totaling $15.3 million to promote public safety, reduce crime, and improve the criminal justice system. The projects funded support personnel, equipment, supplies, training, technical assistance, and information systems for criminal justice purposes.
- Juvenile Justice and Truancy Prevention: 111 awards totaling $8 million to prevent violence in and around schools and to improve the juvenile justice system by providing mental health services, truancy prevention, and intervention through community-based and school programs.
- Local Border Security (Border Star): 74 awards totaling $5.5 million to provide for overtime and operating costs that support an increased law enforcement presence to detect, deter, and disrupt drug, human, and other trafficking along the Texas-Mexico border.
- Non-Profit Security Enhancement: 224 awards totaling $30.4 million for projects that support physical security enhancements and other security activities to nonprofit organizations, including synagogues, churches, and other religious organizations that are at high risk of a terrorist attack based on the nonprofit organization’s ideology, beliefs, or mission.
- Operation Lone Star: 87 awards totaling $55.7 million for projects that enhance interagency border security operations supporting Operation Lone Star including facilitation of directed actions to deter and interdict criminal activity.
- Paul Coverdell Forensic Sciences Improvement: Five awards totaling $1.7 million for projects that improve the quality and timeliness of forensic science or medical examiners services, as well as projects seeking to address emerging forensic science. Specific funding has been reserved for projects that support responses to the opioid epidemic.
- Project Safe Neighborhoods: 22 awards totaling $1.2 million for projects designed to create and foster safer neighborhoods through a sustained reduction in violent crime, including, but not limited to, addressing criminal gangs and felonious possession and use of firearms.
- Residential Substance Abuse Treatment: Six awards totaling $3.1 million for projects that provide residential substance abuse treatment within local correctional and detention facilities.
- SAFE Ready Facilities: 41 awards totaling $4.4 million to assist medical care facilities throughout Texas with necessary training, equipment, and supplies to achieve and maintain Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE)-Ready designation as defined in Chapter 323 of the Texas Health and Safety Code.
- Serving Victims of Crime and Addressing Violence Against Women: 509 awards totaling $194.9 million to provide services directly to victims of crime to speed their recovery and aid them through the criminal justice process, as well as projects that promote a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to improve the justice system’s response to violent crimes against women.
- Sexual Assault Evidence Testing: Two awards totaling $456,000 to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for costs associated with the forensic analysis of physical evidence in relation to sexual assault or other sex offenses.
- Specialty Courts: 80 awards totaling $12.2 million to support judicially supervised treatment, intensive case management, and other services to assist participants with substance abuse or mental health challenges move toward a healthier lifestyle, reduce the number of repeat offenses, and address congestion in the court system.
- State Crisis Intervention Program: 50 awards totaling $13.3 million to support the prevention, intervention, and reduction of crime and violence and provide essential services to at-risk populations within Texas communities.
- State Cybersecurity Program: 125 awards totaling $8.1 million to address imminent cybersecurity threats to local information systems including implementing investments that support local governments with managing and reducing systemic cyber risk.
- Statewide Emergency Radio Infrastructure: 16 awards totaling $23.1 million to support state and regional efforts to improve or sustain interoperable emergency radio infrastructure.
- Texas Anti-Gang Centers: 9 awards totaling $30.2 million for projects that support regional, multidisciplinary approaches to combat gang violence through the coordination of gang prevention, intervention, and suppression activities.
The Governor’s Public Safety Office administers numerous state and federal grant programs in coordination with state-level and regional partner agencies, including the 24 regional Councils of Governments in Texas and the Urban Area Working Groups in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. Entities interested in seeking funds to support their public safety initiatives during the next grant cycle (FY 2026) should reach out to their local COG to learn about region specific timelines and requirements.
