The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, February 4, 2000 Page: 1 of 4
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Absorbed The Gazette Circulation By Purchase On May 12,1928
VOL 205 — NO. 5
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SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS — FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2000
4 PAGES — 25 CENTS — PUBUSHED EVERY FRIDAY
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Water plant
hazards topic
of meeting
Wednesday
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Sulphur Springs emergency
management officials hope the
information they’ll cover in a
public meeting Wednesday nev-
er has to be used.
The meeting set for 3 p.m.
Wednesday in the council cham-
bers at City Hall will cover the
city’s risf management plan for
the wastewater and water treat-
ment plants, where potentially
hazardous chemicals are stored.
The information deals with
“off-site consequence analysis”
— in other words, what might
happen if things went very
wrong, and how the city’s emer-
gency management squads
would respond.The risk manage-
ment plan deals with the chlo-
rine, sulfur dioxide and anhy-
drous ammonia used at the two
treatment plants.
“If some of the product
escaped due to an accidental dis-
charge, what would our response
be?” said Rex Morgan, the
emergency management coordi-
nator for the city of Sulphur
Springs.
“We’ll explain what the plan
is, what our response would be
in both on- and off-site to protect ,
the health of the public and mit-
igate the danger. The plan covers
everything from how we would
stage an evacuation to how we
would warn the general public.”
In worst-case scenarios, resi-
dents in a 1.3-mile radius around
the plants could be affected by
the chemicals in the event oTa ~-
major accident and release. As
manV a? 1,500 people around the
watertreatment plant on State
Highway s could be touched
by the chemicals,
On the other side of town, a
release of chemicals could reach
2,500 people.
- There has’never been a dis-
charge of any of the chemicals at
the water plants.
“Things are so tightly con-
trolled at the city’s plants, we’ve
never had a release,” Morgan
said.
“We’ve had some accidental
discharges at local industries, but
they’ve been minor amounts ...”
vMwo* ti awwr-v
Storm leaves parts of county in the dark
‘ Icy conditions
knock down
power w.
leave wads slick
By FAITH fflWMAW
Sections of Hopkins County
were without power throughout the
day Thursday $qd some areas
remained d|f| ovirW|l»t after icy
conditions wreaked havoc on elec-
trical distribution systems.
The south end °f the county lost
power soon after weather condi-
tions began worsening Thursday.
Some areas of the county were still
in the dark at 9 a.m. Friday, accord-
ing to reports from emergency
management officials.
‘The south part of the county has
been out of power since [Thurs-
day],” Nancy Stillwagoner, com-
munications supervisor at the Sul-
phur Springs Fq]ice Department,
said Friday morning. “TXU is
working until they get power
restored... The majority of power
outage is due to trees and downed
lines. The trees laying over cause
the lines to go down.”
Areas most effected by weather
are those furthest away from Sul-
phur Springs. County residents in
Birthright, Dike and along state
highways 19 and 154 were still
without power Friday morning.
Most city residents only suffered
a few hours of power outage. Traf-
fic was inconvenienced for a few
hours Thursday when traffic lights
on South Broadway and Gilmer
streets went out. Lights were still
not completely restored to normal
Friday morning, with only flashing
red lights as guides.
Trees knocked down lines in so
many areas that an emergency
operations center was set up at city
hall to help cope with the flood of
calls reporting power outages
Thursday.
According to Sulphur Springs
Police Lt. Gordon Fulcher, police
dispatchers were not able to handle
Slick roads
City of Sulphur Springs worker Larry White sands worry with. The Texas Department of Transportation
Houston Street Friday morning to give motorists a took on the task of sanding slick spots on the over-
little more traction in the icy conditions. Houston passes and Interstate 30.
Street was one of the few streets that the city had to
the numerous power outage callr.
Police officers responded to 87 calls
for service and 48 emergency 911
calls Thursday, and the sheriffs
department 32calls forservice and 15
emergency 911 calls, necessitating
assistance in handling calls Thursday.
Fulcher said that although roads
were still icy in patches, especially on
overpasses, the lack of precipitation
Friday morning stalled concerns of
worsening conditions and the need for
an emergency operations center.
“Most of the main roads [in the
county] are passable, but the side
streets are still slick,” Stillwagoner
said. “There are patches on the over-
passes that are still slick.”
Area law enforcement and emer-
gency assistance personnel have
been kept busy responding to
numerous accidents, with overpass-
es and highways proving the most
dangerous for motorists.
Department of Public Safety
Communications CoordinatorMike
Morgan said most accidents have
been relatively minor.
“We had numerous accidents
Thursday, [but nothing too seri-
ous],” he said. “Roads are about the
same, but none are really bad. As
far as I know, no [county roads]
have been closed, but Interstate 30
from Mount Pleasant to Texarkana
was closed [Friday] morning.”
“State Highway 154 was a major
problem Thursday, according to
Rickey Morgan, chief deputy at
Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office.
“I think it’s mostly because there
is no shoulder, so people were
going off in the ditch,” he said.
“The wrecker services have been
busy. We were busy yesterday
assisting other [emergency] agen-
cies.”
The main concern for the coun-
ty’s motorists came early Friday
morning when they began the drive
to work on what became icy roads
in the cold of night.
“Roads that were slush [Thurs-
day] were solid ice [Friday] morn-
ing," Morgan said. “There was not
as much traffic overnight and they
froze.”
City workers began checking city
streets at 6:30 Friday morning,
adding a fine spray of gravel to
slick roads for added traction. City
crews were out until 7 p.m. Thurs-
day trying to make roads safer and
helping remove obstacles such as
trees from the road, according to
Charles Tolly, city worker.
According to Texas Department
of Transportation dispatcher Linda
Jacks, TxDoT crews are going on
their second straight day /monitoring
1-30 and state roadways.
“We’ve got all our crews out
working with sand and gravel ...
trying to help keep froads] pass-
able,” Jacks said.
Meal-A-Day doubles its number of meals served
By FAITH HUFFMAN_
The Hopkins County Meal-A-Day
program set a rtcotd last year for the
number of meafc served to area
seniors, doubling the number served
in 1998.
In 1999 the non-profit organization.
now in its fourth year, served up
26,963 meals to the county’s seniors
and less fortunate citizens, with 42
percent of those meals delivered free
to people who were unable to drive
and who don’t have anyone to pre-
pare meals for them, according to
Meal-A-Day Coordinator Sue
Hawkins-McClure.
“Most have no one to help them
with their day-to-day [activities], so
we deliver to them,” she said. “If they
can’t drive or can’t come and get
[meals], we take it to them.”
Delivery persons, volunteers like
all Meal-A-Day workers, load up
warm meals into their cars to be
delivered to county residents on one
of six routes.
“We currently deliver to Sulphur
Springs and Cumby,” Hawkins-
McClure said. “Volunteer drivers
come to the center and pick up the
meals in ice chests. We have six
routes. Most volunteers work one day
a week." While Meju-A-Day, an all-
volunteer organization, provided
more than 26,000/meals last year,
they also had a record 50 volunteers.
Hawkins-McClure attributes the
increase in volunteers to the help pro-
vided by inmateafrom the county.
Proposed ‘boot camp’ said to be of the academic variety
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Residents on the south end of Hop-
kins County want a face-to-face meet-
ing with the director of a charter
school who says he wants to build a
“TAAS Boot Camp” in the area.
About 70 Hopkins County resi-
dents of the area showed up for a
meeting at Big Smith’s Bar-B-Q
restaurant Monday night to try and
find out more about the camp, which
was originally thought to be a correc-
tional fadlity.
The News-Telegram provided
copies of a letter from Donald L.
Jones, director of Renaissance Char-
ter School in Bring, detailing his
plans to build a home for his family
and a facility to (gift at-risk students
improve their stores on the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills test.
Residents who live near the 161-
acre tract at the northwest comer of
FM 1567 and County Road 1186
became alarmed fWO Weeks ago when
a sign was erected on the property
announcing the project.
“Future Site...(Spring 2000)
Facility for “At Risk" Adolescent
Boot Camp Serving Dallas County
Youth.” announced the sign, which
has since been pulled down andr,u*
back up at least twice.
The angry response from residents
in the area caught Jones by surprise,
he said Monday from his home in
Grapevine, because he had no inten-
tion of involving adolescents from tHe
juvenile justice system.
“There’s a little bit of frustration on
my pari, because this is a total sur-
prise to me," he said. “1 would have
the same concerns. I would not want
to expose my family to criminals or
druggies."
In another letter to Hopkins Coun-
ty Judge Cletis Millsap and county
commissioners Monday, Jones wrote
that he intends to develop the land
into a park-like area where he and his
wife — who is a teacher — can retire,
and also establish a business that
would help students defined as “at-
risk” by the Texas Education Agency
The facility would focus on the Texas
Assessment of Academic Skills test,
which all students in Texas must pass
to graduate from high school.
"We call it a boot camp for TAAS,"
Jones wrote. "We believe that immer-
sion in experiencing how to tackle
TAAS objectives will be a strong pos-
itive factor in motivating adolescents
to go back to their schools and pre-
pare for TAAS. We will seek grants
and support to provide financial assis-
tance to those who are not able to
afford such a luxurious approach to
learning
“We know frckn experience that
there is a marklt for educational
based programs. We don’t know how
successful a couVtrv-based TAAS
boot camp will be.ywt we are ready
to find out."
Jones said the plan\ are not associ-
ated with any juvenile justice pro-
gram or other govemn\ent agency.
■Our ef ort is solely anvate enter-
prise in nature." JonesVwrote. “We
have not contracted withsny agency,
church organization. seiA or other-
Cumby illnesses remain myste
Superintendent's investigation outlines events of Jan. J3
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Explanations
IHfchm —iJBWfci tMirtan are
ereaiag, a* fMMaadB presented
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By FAITH HUFFMAN_
Cumby ISD Superintendent Jack
Thomason told school board mem-
bers Monday evening that his investi-
gation into the Jan. 13 incident that
resulted in the hospitalization of five
students failed to find a cause
“It’s a mystery we wish we could
find the answer to,” Thomason said.
“We know the students were ill. I’m
not denying that. We know they were
sick. They were taken to the hospital
But we can’t really explain why.
“That’s the most frustrating part.”
According to a timeline Thomason
prevented to trustees Mooday night,
natural gas was “turned off by the gas
company, and a block flange [was]
installed in the main line” at 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 11 This decision was
made after the gas company discov-
ered a drop in pressure when testing
the main line nkar the gym and high
school. )
The area was tested for a gas leak
after a test of the area revealed an odd
odor, detected at noon, coming from
the heater vent exhaust stack'on top
of the gym.
Wilcox Plumbing arrived at the
school at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 11, and pres-
sure-tested natural gas lines going to
the gym. the science building and the
mam gas line to the high school from
5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. According to
Thomason’s report, pressure testing
was done and discharged at the meter,
with only two small leaks found in
the gym. The leaks were repaired
Tuesday night.
On Wednesday. Jan. 12, between 9
a m and noon, the home economics
building, agriculture building and bus
bam. and elementary physical educa-
tion building were pressure-tested
"Several small leaks were found in
the ag shop and bus bam." according
to Thomason's timeline, and “all
valve stops turned off
From 1 p m to 5 p m. that day. the
trunk line between the high school,
home economics building and agri-
culture building was tested and found
unable to hold air pressure The deci-
sion was made to replace the line
Plumbers also began work on the roof
of the elementary building Wednes-
day aAernoon
Testing done on "roof regulator
lines to the kitchen” betwe^
and 10 a.m. Thursday,
revealed a small leak, which 1
repaired.
Thomason's report shows i
students complaining of a foul i
their high school classroom al
a.m. Thursday. The classroom]
dow was opened and a candle
ward away the odor. Five minutes']
er, students reported feeling ill.
9:30 a.m.. three students were takd
to the rbstroom in relation to their i
ness At 9:45 a.m., the ill students’
were escorted outside for fresh air
The students arrived at the efcmentary
office at 10:20 a.m
The resource room was evacuated
Please See CUMBY, P*. 4
Rural News: 4
Club News: 2
Reunions: 3
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Keys, Scott & Lamb, Bill. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, February 4, 2000, newspaper, February 4, 2000; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth779801/m1/1/: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.