Come to the Ice Cream Freeze Off Today at 5:00pm!
The annual Ice Cream Freeze Off will be held today, June 10th,, beginning at 5:00pm. Tickets go on sale at 4:30pm. $5.00 gets you your own bowl and spoon. Then you will have your choice from 53 Ice Cream Freezers. The Ice Cream Freeze Off event has been moved inside the Shannon Oaks Church building, due to the chance of rain. Weather can’t stop the tradition of the Ice Cream Freeze Off! Tell your friends, family, neighbors… tell everyone.
Paris Junior College is Holding Kids College for Four Fun-Filled Days
PJC holding Kid’s College July 10-13
Paris Junior College is holding Kids College for four fun-filled days July 10-13, 2023. Classes for children in kindergarten through fifth grade will address a wide range of interests.
Courses include Cooks ‘N Books; First Aid: What’s the BIG Deal?; FUN with Science!; Give Me a “C” Give Me a “HEER”; It’s TEE Time!; Junkyard Wars; Junior Historian; Mad Science!; Martial Arts; Math ‘N Crafts; Music; Reporting: Live from the Scene; Secret Agent; Sign Language!; The Great Escape; World Wildlife Adventure!; “Yes You CANvas!”; and You CAN Sew.
Participants will set their own schedule with the subjects they want, broken into two age groupings: Kindergarten-Second or Third-Fifth grades. Classes are Monday through Thursday, July 10 – 13, 2023, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Drop-off time is 8:00 a.m. to 8:20 a.m. and pick-up is from 4:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Parent Preview, where students may show off their skills and projects, is Thursday, July 13 from 3:10 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pre-registration is required. Early registration, which includes a discount, ends June 30. Multiple children in the same family also qualify for a discount. To access the information flyer, course descriptions, and registration form, go to https://www.parisjc.edu/downloads/kc-flyer.pdf. Those needing more information may email [email protected].
Photo cutline:
Children from last year’s PJC Kids College are shown having a great time posing with a skeleton.
Paris Junior College — located in Paris, Texas, about 100 miles northeast of Dallas — has been a part of the Lamar County community since 1924.
Paris Junior College offers Associate in Arts, Associate in Science and Associate in Applied Science degrees, as well as Certificates of Proficiency in technical/workforce fields. The college has expanded its academic curriculum through the years to encourage associate degree and university transfer candidates. Since establishing its first vocational program — jewelry and watchmaking in 1942 — the college has been aggressive in adding technical/workforce programs that will benefit students entering the workforce.
The campus of 54 tree-shaded acres includes 20 major buildings and residence halls and provides students a unique and pleasant environment for learning.
Paris Junior College also operates centers in Sulphur Springs, Texas, and in Greenville, Texas.
Vision
To be the educational provider of choice for the region.
Mission
Paris Junior College is a comprehensive community college serving the region’s educational and training needs while strengthening the economic, social and cultural life of our diverse community.
Lil 4’s Club Summer Lunch Giveaway
June 9, 2023 – The Lil 4s Club has been passing out lunch bags to kids this summer. They are currently looking for sponsors to help with chips, lunch meat, snacks, juice and anything that will go into brown bags.
The Lil 4’s Club is a non-profit after-school organization that serves children ages 2-18. The President of Lil 4’s is Letitia Conliffe and Vice President is Sandra Cummings, both of Sulphur Springs.
Kids gather at Lil4’s events for fun, snacks, singing, homework time and lots of TLC and opportunity to talk about their day and what’s going on in their lives. Conliffe bases the club on her own life experience of poverty, being homeless at times, and being on her own since age 15. She is a mother and now a grandmother, and is carrying out her dream of being able to provide a safe haven and a loving place for all kids to enjoy.
Through her seven years of experience with the club, she says kids are drawn like a magnet to positive reinforcement and the personal interest it provides. Food, wholesome activities and simple caring fill unspoken needs in many of the children.
Texas Lawmakers Stop Funding For Child ID Kits After Investigation Discovers Their Ineffectiveness
June 9, 2023- Texas Lawmakers for months have been on track to use millions to continue distributing child identification kits to Texas schoolchildren.
In April the Texas House and Senate both approved preliminary budgets that included money for the National Child Identification Program’s Kits.
However, investigations into the company quickly discovered that the there was no evidence that the kits helped locate children at all less than a month after investigations began. Upon this discovery lawmakers quietly pulled funding.
It was also found that the Waco-based company that distributes the kits had been using exaggerated statistics as it sought contracts in Texas and other states. The investigation also revealed that Kenny Hansmire, a former NFL player who leads the company, has had several fail businesses, had millions of dollars in outstanding federal tax liens and previously had been barred from some finance related businesses in Connecticut by banking regulators because of his role in an alleged scheme to defraud or mislead investors.
A 2021 law states that the Texas Education Agency, Who is in charge of purchasing the kits, Is not required to continue providing them if the legislature stops the funding. In a statement, a spokesperson said that the agency isn’t aware of any “alternative funding sources for the program.”
Texas lawmakers were among the first in the nation to enshrine into law a requirement that the state purchase the kits. The kits contain an inkpad and a piece of paper where parents can record their children’s physical attributes, fingerprints and DNA. Parents can store the form in their homes and present it to law enforcement if their child goes missing.
In April 2021, state Sen. Donna Campbell, the New Braunfels Republican who authored the law, said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Hansmire had brought her the legislation.
The legislature allocated roughly $5.7 million to purchase kits despite numerous government agencies and nonprofit providing similar kits for free or a lower cost. The envelopes contained the claim that 800,000 children go missing every year. Experts say the figure, which is based on a 1999 study, is inflated and out-of-date in part because it includes hundreds of thousands of children who were reported missing for benign reasons like coming home later than expected.
Hansmire previously told the news outlets that his company’s messaging has shifted away from what he called the “historically high” number of missing children.
Putt Putt And Pies With Pops
June 9, 2023- Putt Putt and Pies with Pops, an event hosted by Family First Home Health And Hospice, will be held at the Sulphur Springs Senior Center on Monday.
Bring dad, grandpa, and kids and grandkids for games, pies and coffee and even win some prizes! Lets celebrate all the dads!
Held on Monday, June 12 at 11am. Located at 150 Martin Luther King Jr Dr.
CHRISTUS Mother Frances Welcomes Father Justin Wylie
June 9, 2023- CHRISTUS Mother Frances invites you to meet and greet Father Justin Wylie. Father Wylie is the new Pastoral/Spiritual Care Program Manager.
This is a come and go event, and refreshments will be served for all those who are to attend. The event will be held Tuesday, June 13 from 4-6pm at CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic Medical Plaza 113 Airport Rd.
20 Dollar Pill Lands Man in Hospital; Dealer in Jail
June 9, 2023 – The Sulphur Springs Special Crimes Unit and the Hopkins County Sheriff collaborated to arrest CASHIUS ANTONIO HERNANDEZ this week.
HERNANDEZ is charged with:
1 481.141(B) MAN/DEL CS CAUSE DEATH OR SBI IAT
1 37.09(C) TAMPER/FABRICATE PHYS EVID W/INTENT TO IMPAIR
1 481.116(B) POSS CS PG 2 < 1G
Local Law Enforcement has been investigating a Fentanyl overdose that occured 3 days ago. At the time of publishing, the victim is still hospitalized. The joint investigation led to a Helm Lane Apartment, and to the residence of the accused.
Hernandez, age 26 of Sulphur Springs, gave consent to have his apartment searched. Inside his home, drug paraphernalia was found and he was arrested. After being read his rights, Hernandez allegedly confessed to selling the overdose victim a $20 blue M30 pill. He also confessed to flushing at least one additional M30 pill when Law Enforcement came to his home. He also claimed ownership of THC wax found during the search.
This is not the first time Hernandez has been in Hopkins County Jail. On April 12, 2023 Sulphur Springs Police responded to the Sulphur Springs Municipal Court to pick up Cashius Antonio Hernandez. He was transported to jail on a third no driver’s license charge, following another vehicle too closely and speeding charges.
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.
A Program Focused on Tree Care and Tree Replacement Options to be Held June 16
The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service office in Smith County, along with the Earth-Kind Environmental Education Committee, will be hosting a program focused on tree care and tree replacement options for on June 16. The historic freeze in 2021 in Texas affected even hardy native trees and the impact continues to be felt. The program, which focuses on the Tyler and East Texas area, will be from 9 a.m. to noon at the Tyler Rose Garden Center, 420 Rose Drive, Tyler. The cost is $20, payable at the door by cash or check. Coffee and refreshments will be provided, and door prizes will be awarded. For more information, contact the AgriLife Extension office in Smith County at 903-590-2980. Additional information can be found on the website.
“There are dead trees — especially oaks — far and wide in East Texas,” said Greg Grant, AgriLife Extension horticulturist for Smith County. “Many more are in various states of recovery, decline or decay. I see and hear a lot of comments about various diseases and maladies, but most of the damage took place during or was a result of the historic freeze event of 2021.”
Grant said he knew what “zero degrees” does to live oaks, since they are coastal trees by nature. He also said the 2021 freeze damage to many of the Zone 8 Asian plants such as azaleas, camellias and gardenias came as no surprise.
“What came as a huge shock, though, was the widespread freeze damage to mature native deciduous oak trees that evolved here over thousands of years,” Grant said. “Most of the surprise damage occurred on post oaks, southern red oaks and water oaks. And to make matters worse, many trees that survived the 2021 freeze in various states of health then succumbed to our severe summer drought in 2022.”
Tree topics and arborists
Practical solutions for tree care will be presented by experienced local certified arborist Mark Tietz of Tree Experts in East Texas and Grant. They will include:
- Steps to take to figure out what’s wrong with your trees.
- How to determine if a tree can be saved.
- Properly caring for trees.
- Information on the dead and dying oak trees in the area.
- Potential replacement species that provide the best long-term investment for East Texas
Texas Tarantula Season Has Begun
June 8, 2023- Every summer, thousands of tarantulas wander across Texas in what is now known as an annual tarantula “migration.”
Beginnining in May and lasting through July, the large arachnids, mostly males, actively search for female to mate with.
“One of the most spectacular spider events in Texas occurs for a few weeks each summer when male tarantulas actively wander apparently seeking females,” a Texas A&M field guide said. “This phenomenon is not well understood and may be related to migration more than mating.”
After mating, female tarantulas can lay anywhere from 100 to 1,000 eggs in a web made like a hammock. Eggs will hatch anywhere from 45-60 days.
It’s easy to spot a Texas tarantula due to its large size — usually about 1.5 inches long, the National Park Service said. The giant spiders also have a dark brown head-thorax and legs as well as a brown-black abdomen. There are 14 species of tarantula found throughout Texas, though it takes an expert to differentiate them.
The arachnids are more common in grasslands and semi-open areas, living in underground burrows, natural cavities under logs or stones, space under loose bark of tree trucks and old rodent burrows. Shelters used by these arachnids may have a few lines of silk on the ground in front of the shelter to help detect any passing pray.
Although they are nor harmful to humans, a bite from this 8 legged creature can still be quite painful, this is due to their sharp fangs. Any venom that may be injected is not dangerous. Tarantulas also defend themselves by releasing hairs found on their abdomen, which can cause irritation if the hairs come in contact with eyes or skin.
Governor Abbott Appoints Jackson To Public Utility Commission Of Texas
June 8, 2023- Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Kathleen Jackson to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) for a term set to expire on September 1, 2027. The PUC regulates the state’s electric, water, wastewater, and telecommunications utility industries, implements respective legislation, and offers customer assistance in resolving consumer complaints.
Kathleen Jackson of Beaumont is a board member of the Texas Water Development Board, where she has served since 2014. She is a registered Professional Engineer and former chairman of the Southeast Texas Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. She is a member of the Environmental Flows Advisory Group and Texas Farm Bureau and a board member and former president of the Lamar Institute of Technology Foundation. She is former president of the American Cancer Society of North Jefferson County, a former board member of Junior Achievement of the Golden Triangle, and a former member of the Lower Neches Valley Authority Board of Directors and the Texas Water Conservation Association. Additionally, she has participated on the Sabine and Neches Rivers Bay and Estuary Environmental Flows Assessment Program Stakeholders Committee. Jackson received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University.
