The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 203, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1998 Page: 1 of 4
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06/30/99 S25 Pi
SOUTHWEST mCRQPUHLISHIH
2627 E YANDKLL DR
BL PASO TX 79903-3724
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Absorbed The Gazette Circulation By Purchase On May 12, 1928
VOL 203 — NO. 21
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS — FRIDAY, MAY 22,1998
4 PAGES — 25 CENTS — PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
Ban on
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Dry conditions spawning
grass fires in Hopkins County
may also lead to the first emer-
gency ban on outside burning
in two years.
‘Tve got the fire departments
on alert right now, and once
they tell me we need to go on
emergency alert, we’ll do it,”
Hopkins County Judge Joe
Minter said Wednesday morn-
ing.
County firefighters were
called out to four grass fires
Tuesday, one in Miller Grove,
two near Brashear and Saltillo
on Interstate 30, and another
near Brashear on County Road
1106.
“It’s getting bad out there,”
Minter said. “Everything’s
dry.”
Despite record-setting rain-
fall in January, precipitation
totals are five inches below last
year’s numbers and more than
one inch less than average.
Rainfall for the month of
May is far below normal. The
average precipitation in Hop-
kins County in May is 5.45
inches. Through the first 20
days of this month, the county
has seen 0.27 inches.
Minter imposed seven-day
emergency bans on outdoor
fires in 1996 after rainfall dried
up, leaving Hopkins County’s
fields and pastures dry and
parched. Commissioners in
Hopkins and other East Texas
counties eventually passed
ordinances banning all outside
burning while the drought of
1996 took its toll.
Hopkins County is not alone
in feeling the effects of the dry
conditions. Delta County offi-
cials are also considering a ban
on outdoor burning, and sever-
al East Texas counties are
experiencing the beginnings of
drought-like conditions, as
well.
In his four years of office,
Minter said, imposing a fire
ban during the 1996 drought
caused him more problems
than any other issue.
“That made everybody mad,
but I’ll do it again,” Minter
said.
Grass fires became a serious
threat to life and property two
years ago when fires across the
county consumed thousands of
acres of pasture land.
“I don’t want that to ever
happen again,” Minter said.
“Hopkins County almost
burned up that year.”
Arid fields and gusting winds
fueled a grass fire near Como
in February of that year that
scorched an estimated 1,250
acres of pastureland. Eight fire
departments battled the blaze
for more than five hours and
had to return to the scene four
times after the fire tried to
rekindle.
“We barely got that stopped,”
Minter said. “Como could have
been gone.
“It’s reaching that point in
time that we’re going to have
to do an emergency ban,” he
added. “When our volunteer
fire departments tell me it’s
time, I’ll check with tire com-
missioners, and if they confirm
the conditions, I’ll impose the
ban.”
In the meantime, citizens
should take care when handling
any fire outdoors, from the
simple act of throwing a
cigarette butt out of a car win-
dow to burning trash or brush
in an open field.
“We need all citizens to help
us again and cooperate,”
Minter said.
Beach Party ’98
All-night graduation event features $12,000 in prizes
By ROBERT SULLIVAN
The third annual all-night celebration for
Sulphur Springs High School graduates —
dubbed “Beach Party ’98” by organizers —
will feature more than $12,000 worth of
prizes.
“It’s going to be awesome,” said Virginia
Worsham, one of several mothers who is
helping organize the event. "Each year it gets
better and better.”
The party will begin in the Suphur Springs
High School cafeteria at 10 p.m. Friday.
According to Angie Blount, a parent and
teacher also involved in this year’s party, 148
tickets to the event have been sold out of a
graduating class of 211.
The idea for the party came up about three
years ago after teachers heard of a similar cel-
ebration at Mount Pleasant High School.
There, most of the seniors showed up and
stayed till dawn for the grand prize — a new
car. The idea was to have a controlled cele-
bration so graduates would have a safe alter-
native to private parties on graduation night.
The concept has taken hold.
One key is the “locked door” policy. A stu-
dent may leave at any time, but an adult at the
party calls the students’ parents letting them
know the student is leaving. And the student
•, y' _
may not get back into the party.
Students who leave are not eligible to win
the expensive prizes, which will be given
away at dawn when the party ends.
Gift certificates, movie passes, televisions,
VCRs, refrigerators and even computers will
be offered as door prizes, said Carol Gee,
another parent who is helping set up the par-
ty.
A single huge prize — like a car — will
not be awarded, allowing more prizes to be
offered giving more students the opportunity
to take something home.
The prizes will be awarded to the students
with the most “Wildcat Bucks.”
* i
Staff Photo By Marco Antonio Madina Sr.
Party time
Teachers and volunteers prepare for an after-grad-
uation party for Sulphur Springs High School stu-
dents. More than $12,000 in prizes await students.
Pictured left to right are Debra Ponder, Joy Shing,
Carol Gee, Darla Reed and Shelley Grimes.
Cleaning crew
Staff Photo By Marco Antonio Medina Sr.
Hopkins County Dive Team member J.P. Moseley dive team members were vacuuming leaves and
prepares to make a splash in City Pool Wednesday other debris from the pool in preparation for the
morning wearing scuba gear. Moseley and other summer swim season that begins Saturday.
Head lice problem for many
of county’s school districts
By ROBERT SULLIVAN_
Lice have been an increasing prob-
lem this year in schools throughout
Hopkins County, according to some
school officials who also indicate the
parasites may be developing a resis-
tance to treatment.
“Across the district there has been
a problem with lice," said Austin Ele-
mentary School Principal Tona Sue
Hudson. “It’s not just a problem at
Austin. It’s something we have to
deal with at all the schools."
Hudson said when lice are found
on a child, the child is sent home with
a note to the parents telling them
about the lice and advising them what
to do to treat the child.
Tracy Sickles, the licensed voca-
tional nurse for Travis, Austin and
Bowie schools, said il is normally the
same children who come up with lice.
She said as many as 18 students have
been found to have lice at the schools
she covers and estimated she had to
send nine of them home for lice as
many as 15 times.
Houston Elementary School Princi
pal Juan Harrison, however, said head
lice have not been a problem at his
school this year. While he did say
some families had been battling lice,
the problem has not been an issue at
Houston.
, According to the Division of Para-
sitic Diseases of the Centers for Dis-
ease Control in Atlanta. Ga.. lice are
parasitic insects found on the heads of
people.
They live by feeding on human
blood. Preschool and elementary-age
children, and their families, are most
often infected, and girls get lice more
often than boys.
Symptoms of lice infestation are a
tickling feeling of something moving
in the hair, itching and sores by
scratching.
Hudson said lice are “just part of
school life."
Judicial district’s probation
departments undergo revamp
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Hopkins County’s chief adult pro-
bation officer was removed from his
post this week after a vote to combine,
both the juvenile and adult probation
departments for the area.
The judges on the Juvenile Board
of Hopkins. Delta, Franklin and Rains
counties and two of the three district
judges overseeing the Eighth Judicial
District Adult Community Supervi-
sion and Corrections Department
signed a resolution Monday combin-
ing the two departments.
The resolution also appointed John
D. Perry, previously head of the juve-
nile probation office, as chief proba-
tion officer for the new department.
That move pushed out Mark Miller,
who had served as head of the Eighth
Judicial District’s adult probation
department for 12 years.
Newsom said Miller still had about
160 hours of vacation time to draw
from but is no longer working for the
probation department
“That was the most difficult deci-
sion I’ve made this year, without a
doubt,” Newsom said Thursday. “I
hope that he’ll [Miller] be able to be
successful in whatever else he pur-
Rural News: 4
Club News: 2
Sophomores at
SSHS do best
yet on TAAS
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Sophomores at Sulphur Springs
High School scored higher on the
Texas Assessment of Academic Skills
exam than any previous lOth-grade
class, but the same test will keep four
seniors from receiving their diplomas.
Sulphur Springs Independent
School District Assistant Superinten-
dent Randy Reed presented the
SSISD board of trustees Tuesday with
results of the TAAS exit level exam.
All high school students are required
to pass the test before graduating.
Sophomores had their first crack at
the test in March, and more students
passed each of the three sections —
reading, writing and math — than any
before them.
“I think our progress is remark-
able,” Reed said. “I credit the students
at the high school and Principal Judy
Tipping for doing the things that
needed to be done."
Of the 236 sophomores taking the
exam, 188 — or 80 percent — met
the minimum expectations on all
three tests.
“These scores rank our high school
in the top 25 percent of high schools
in Texas,” Reed said.
The lOth-graders have made the
biggest strides on the math portion
since sophomores began taking the
test five years ago. That year, only 57
percent of the students passed the
math. This year, 83 percent complet-
ed that section.
The sophomore students scored
highest on the writing test, with 93
percent passing. 3 percentage points
higher than last year’s class. Another
91 percent completed the reading sec-
tion, compared to 88 percent one year
ago.
Of the 48 sophomores who must
still pass the exit test — 16 less than
last year’s class — 30 must pass only
one part of the exam, nine must pass
two sections, and nine must still com-
plete all three parts.
There were 33 juniors who still
needed to finish the test in march, but
13 have since completed the require-
ments. Math, as usual, is the biggest
stumbling block, with 18 of the 20
still needing to pass that section of the
exam. "Four students have completed
all other requirements for graduation
except for the exit test," Reed said.
Payment of
past-due taxes
speeds up’
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK~
The threat of seeing their
names in print has apparently
spurred property owners to speed
up their payments to the Sulphur
Springs Independent School Dis-
trict’s tax office this month.
The district will publish its
annual list of delinquent taxpay-
ers in the News-Telegram on
Sunday, and payments of past
due taxes have already increased
sevenfold this month.
“We’ve collected about
$126,000 since May 1,” said
SSISD Tax Collector Judy
Gregg, addressing the school dis-
trict’s board of trustees during a
meeting Tuesday.
Gregg said the district collect-
ed about $35,000 in taxes in
April.
The Sunday advertisement will
include the names of anyone
owning more than $500 in school
district property taxes.
The school district has been
publishing the list each May for
the past 10 years to speed up col-
lection of delinquent taxes. Last
year, approximately 520 proper-
ty owners and businesses owing
as much as $16,753.69 to as little
as $488.05 in taxes found their
names in a full-page ad in the
Sunday paper.
Gregg said property owners
owing taxes have until noon Fri-
day to pay up and keep their
names off the list.
“I’m expecting about $70,000
more in the next three days,”
Gregg said.
in other business, board mem-
bers may be reviewing the dis-
trict’s “zero tolerance” policy
regarding fighting at school.
The policy provides that all
students involved in fights at
SSISD schools be charged with
disorderly conduct.
sues, and I sincerely have been pray-
ing for him that he’ll be successful
and that his family will do fine."
Miller received no advance warn-
ing of the decision. He was told of the
agreement by Newsom after the reso-
lutions were passed.
“He came in Monday around 4
o'clock and said, ‘Tomorrow's your
last dav.' and I was out of a job.” said
Miller.”
“There was no indication anything
was wrong. 1 knew something wasn't
right, but 1 didn’t think it was any-
thing like that."
Humane awards
Staff Photo By Marco Antonio Madina Sr
Jobi Spencer, left,
and Sherry
Finney were hon-
ored as the
Humane Kid and
Humane Adult of
the Year Tbesday
night at an
awards dinner
sponsored by the
Hopkins County
Animal Protection
League. Also hon-
ored was Betty
Mitchel, who was
named Volunteer
of the Season.
Reunions: 3
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Keys, Scott & Lamb, Bill. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 203, No. 21, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1998, newspaper, May 22, 1998; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth780459/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.