Sulphur Springs Man Stopped in Vehicle Reported Stolen in Paris
Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper William Gillentine arrested 51-year-old Michael Allen Coker of Sulphur Springs man for driving a stolen car.
Gillentine reported seeing a sedan traveling faster than other vehicles on Interstate 30 west at about 1:41 p.m. He activated his radar, which showed the man to be traveling at speeds of 81 and 82 miles per hour in a 75 mph speed zone.
The trooper conducted a traffic stop at mile marker 118, advised the man the reason for the stop and that he would only be issued a warning. He took the paper that had the man’s driver’s license information on it and asked the man to accompany him to his patrol vehicle, while he completed the paperwork.
While the pair was talking while the trooper worked in his patrol unit, Gillentine received a call on his cell phone from DPS dispatch, which he answered on speaker phone. The dispatcher reportedly advised a records check showed the vehicle to have been reported to Paris police as stolen.
When Gillentine asked Coker why the vehicle would be reported stolen, Coker claimed a woman gave it to him to driver the day before, the trooper alleged in arrest reports. When pressed for more details and asked numerous questions, Coker was alleged to provide a vague story.
A Paris Police Department detective contacted Gillentine by phone. The car was reportedly left running and unattended while the driver went inside a store; when the victim walked back outside, the vehicle was missing, the Paris officer reportedly told Gillentine.
Coker was placed under arrest for unauthorized use of a vehicle. An inventory of the vehicle prior to impound revealed an open can of Angry Orchard hard cider in the console.
The Paris police detective met Gillentine at Hopkins County jail and showed him pictures taken from a video of the area where the vehicle was reported stolen. Coker was reportedly wearing the same clothing as the suspect who was pictured approaching the car in the store parking lot.
Coker was booked into Hopkins County jail for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He remained in the county jail Wednesday afternoon; his bond was set at $5,000 on the felony charge, according to jail reports.
Chris Brown Appointed To Hospital District Board
Hopkins County Hospital District Board Tuesday evening selected Chris Brown of Sulphur Springs to serve in the unexpired seat of the board, swore in reelected members and elected officers.
Brown was among five candidates who expressed interest to Hopkins County Hospital District Board in serving the remainder of Dan Roper’s unexpired term; Roper resigned earlier this year from the seat.
“We have had several people who have expressed interest and I am just thrilled. I’ve not been on the board as many as some of you, but to have multiple people interested in being on this auspicious group is different from what we usually have. We are honored that those of you who have expressed interest have,” HCHD Board President Dr. Suzanne Thomas said, then invited the candidates present at the meeting to spend 3-5 minutes introducing themselves.
Art Trepanier, Donna Wallace, Kristi Schultz, Chris Brown and Andrew Lowen also submitted information to be considered for the post.
The potential candidates present at the beginning of the hospital board’s 6 p.m. meeting were given the opportunity to introduce themselves.
Trepanier said he retired from Lockheed Martin, and relocated to the Pleasant Grove community of Hopkins County, where is wife is from. Her family had a dairy in Greenpond; she has two siblings who still reside there and one who lives in Birthright. He said he is looking for ways to become more involved in the Sulphur Springs community. He said he’s had the opportunity to inspect a number of medical facilities in the Dallas Fort Worth area, across the state and country as part of his job. His last few assignments were in the area of process improvement.
Wallace was unable to attend the meetings, she has 30 days left of a contractual obligation at a small hospital in Oklahoma. Her husband spoke on her behalf, noting she has 29 years of experience working at the hospital. She was the chief operating and financial officer at Hopkins County Memorial Hospital until about 2 years ago. She wants to return, serve and help the hospital, he told the hospital board members.
Kristi Schultz is a registered nurse who has lived in Sulphur Springs for 27 years. She began her career in health care at Carriage House in 1998, when she graduated high school. She earned her RN degree in 2000. She worked at Carriage House for many years, then Medicine Chest Pharmacy. She is currently the program director for Paris Junior College nursing home training. She teaches certified nurse aide and medic classes for PJC full time, and is also over the enhanced nurse aide and part of the dual credit program serving high school students in the area. She said she loves health care, with geriatrics as her primary source of interest.
Neither Brown nor Lowen were in attendance to speak during the first part of the meeting. Brown was an event for Dairy Festival queen candidates, which his daughter is competing in this year.
The board voted for their choice of candidate based on statements, information provided by each candidate and other research, with the appointment going to Chris Brown, who serves as executive director of Ark-Tex Council of Governments.
Kerry Law and Joe Bob Burgin were sworn in at that time, with Heather Smith administering the oath of office. Law and Burgin were unopposed for reelection to their seats on the hospital board.
At the close of filing and the March hospital district board meeting, the board had received no applications for Roper’s seat. So, they decided to allow those who might be interested until April 15 to get their applications in. They then vetted them.
Brown, after being notified Tuesday night that he’d been selected to fill Roper’s seat , drove to the hospital to be sworn in and begin serving through the remainder of the meeting, which included election of board officers and an executive session during which the hospital district board was slated to discuss “continued improvement of a staff member and the review of financial planning information related to the negotiation of a new district service.”
Burgin nominated Law to serve as president, Dr. William Dietze to serve as vice president and Dr. David Black to serve as secretary of the hospital board. The motion, seconded by board member Tim Kelty, received unanimous approval.
Tira News for May 29th, 2019
By Jan Vaughn
The regular quarterly meeting of the Tira City Council will be held on Monday, June 3rd, 6:00 p.m., at the Tira Community Center. The public is always welcome and encouraged to attend. The annual Tira Homecoming is coming up on Sunday, July 7th. Watch for more details to come. Yvonne Weir reported that their son, Wesley Weir, missed his high school graduation due to a high fever. She said the doctor diagnosed it as the flu. I’m sure everyone was disappointed that he did not get to participate in the ceremony.
The wedding of our daughter, Tiffany Vaughn, to Perry Gilbert, was held on Saturday afternoon, May 25th. Tiffany’s aunt, Liz Steinsiek, hosted the event at her Tira cabin. The private lake and dock provided a beautiful backdrop for the outdoor ceremony. After a wedding trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, the couple will reside in Malvern, Arkansas. Our granddaughter, Jaidyn, is spending a few days with us, while they are traveling. Our great-granddaughter, Dixie, is visiting Landon, Laiken, Rylan, Brailon, and Slaiden Joslin. She and her brother, Slaiden, celebrated their May birthdays with family on Sunday afternoon, May 26th. The party was held at the home of Matt and Leigh Ann, Laiken’s parents. Guests were treated to hot dogs, cupcakes, and ice cream. The kids enjoyed swimming, and then went home to play on the water slide that they got for their birthdays. Dixie turned 8 on May 17th and Slaiden turned 4 on May 21st.
The Aiguier Cemetery Association is having their annual meeting and lunch at the North Hopkins Cafeteria on Sunday, June 2nd. I always need and appreciate input from my friends to help keep me informed of news in our community. If you have any news pertaining to Tira residents, past or present, please contact me, Jan Vaughn, at 903-438-6688 or [email protected].
KSST is Giving Away Texas Rangers Baseball Tickets! – June 2nd, 2019
KSST is giving away tickets (4 tickets to two lucky winners) to the Sunday June 2nd, 2019 Texas Ranger Game. The Rangers will be facing the Kansas City Royals. 2:05PM first pitch.
Rules and Information:
The passes must NOT be resold!
Unclaimed passes will be dispersed by KSST.
Employees of KSST/KRVA can’t win.
Winner’s names and picture will be posted on Facebook.
PJC Shows Strong Comparable Financial Position
Paris Junior College Board of Regents were pleased to learn at their recent meeting that PJC met all financial indicators contained in the annual Texas Community College Financial Condition Analysis.
“PJC’s financial conditions analysis looks really good,” said PJC President Dr. Pam Anglin, who also mentioned that the college was required to provide the report to the regents annually.
In other actions, the Board of Regents:
• Received a financial report from Controller Keitha Carlton, showing the college is in a strong cash position and on track for budgeted revenue and expenditures.
• Approved the audit engagement letter to retain McClanahan Holmes for the annual audit of Paris Junior College and the PJC Memorial Foundation.
• Reviewed Workforce Training Center parking lot paving bids and approved selection of J&L Paving to do the work with a bid of $148,405.
• Accepted Texas Association of School Board’s Local Policy Update 36 to the
governing policies of the college.
• Set the annual budget workshop for July 8 at 5:30 p.m.
• Received the President’s Report, including a legislative update that it appears the funding will be available for the TC3 consortium for the college’s student information systems software and NETnet, which provides PJC internet services.
• Accepted the resignation of Financial Aid Veteran Specialist Jennifer Moloney effective May 31 and the retirement of Student Success Coach/ADA Coordinator Linetta de la Peña effective September 30.
Football Camp Starts
Wildcat Football Camp for Kids Entering 3rd Through 7th Grade Starts This Evening
The Wildcat Football Camp is the first of the SSISD summer sports camps this year. It is designed for boys entering the third through the seventh grade next school year. The three-day camp gets underway Tuesday (May 28) and runs through Thursday (May 30). It has usually been held in late August and it’s been during the day. This year’s football camp has not only moved to late May, it has also been moved to evening. Camp hours will be 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Multipurpose Building. Wildcats Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Greg Owens explains he wanted to try something different since attendance for the third grade through seventh grade group at Wildcat Football Camp has been just okay but not great. Cost of the camp per student is $20. Coach Owens says the camp may be beneficial for kids that will play peewee football this summer. Members of the Wildcats’ football coaching staff will instruct the campers who will receive training for all aspects of football. Coach Owens says the goal is to have a camp where kids have fun. Seventh graders planning to play seventh grade football will be separated and will work with middle school football coaches. Registration forms for football and all the SSISD camps are available at the school district website at www.ssisd.net.
Summer Paving Projects Wrapping Up
Work on the city’s summer paving projects is nearing completion, with work on Locust and a block of Mulberry completed, thanks to the new street maintenance fee, but at least two city streets remain closed or at least partially closed due to road construction, according to City Manager Marc Maxwell.
Locust Street between Main Street and Houston Streets has been repaved, as was one block of Mulberry Street said to be in most disrepair, according to the city manager.
Work on Sunset Street, however, has been held up due to weather. The ground has to be dry enough to put down cement to stabilize it. Cement will be mixed in the sand, to give it a good base on which to build the concrete street, according to Maxwell.
In the CrossTown Trail project, work on Connally Street continues, marked by areas fenced out in orange, mounds of dirt, road construction signs, and pipes at the corner of Connally and Rogers Street.
This road project is still months from being complete, with utility and drainage work to be completed. This project will connect Coleman Park and downtown, via a sidewalk, which will be the very last part of the project. Water, sewer, drainage and gas lines have to be in place first, and the road rebuilt. Water mains and lines, and Atmos main were on the list for work this month.
KSST is Giving Away Texas Rangers Baseball Tickets! – June 1st, 2019
KSST is giving away tickets (4 tickets to two lucky winners) to the Saturday June 1st, 2019 Texas Ranger Game. The Rangers will be facing the Kansas City Royals. 3:05PM first pitch.
Rules and Information:
The passes must NOT be resold!
Unclaimed passes will be dispersed by KSST.
Employees of KSST/KRVA can’t win.
Winner’s names and picture will be posted on Facebook.
Police Arrest Man After Finding Methamphetamine In His Pocket
A 31–year-old Sulphur Springs man was jailed after police found methamphetamine in his pocket, according to arrest reports.
Jason Allen Hooten reportedly caught Sulphur Springs Police Officer Zach Brown’s attention by driving a Jeep Cherokee on the “wrong side of the road,” in the 1500 block of East Industrial Drive at 10:36 p.m. Monday, so Brown stopped him on the traffic charge.
Brown reported the driver,when contacted, appeared “extremely nervous,” to the point the man’s chest could be seen beating and his t-shirt shaking, according to arrest reports. Hooten claimed to have just left a family member’s home but couldn’t remember the person’s name, Brown alleged in arrest reports.
Hooten reportedly gave officers permission to search him and the vehicle for anything illegal. A clear bag with suspected methamphetamine was allegedly found in Hooten’s pants pocket, resulting in his arrest at 10:45 p.m. for possession of less than 1 gram of a Penalty Group 1 controlled substance and the vehicle being impounded, according to arrest reports.
Hooten remained in the county jail late Tuesday morning, May 28, on the controlled substance charge. Bond was set at $5,000 on the charge, according to jail reports.
According to jail reports, the arrest marks the second time Hooten has been jailed this month. He was arrested May 12 on a warrant for leaving the scene of an accident, and released from custody later that day.
