The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, August 4, 2000 Page: 1 of 4
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Absorbed The Gazette Circulation By Purchase On May 12, 1928
VOL 205 — NO. 27
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS — FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2000
4 PAGES — 25 CENTS — PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
More shots
could be
needed for
students
Second series for
Hepatitis B now
required for some
By FAITH HUFFMAN_
Students attending classes at Sul-
phur Springs Middle School or one of
the elementary schools may be
required to have additional immu-
nizations this year.
As of Aug. 1, children bom on or
after Sept. 2, 1988, will be required to
have a second series of Hepatitis B
shots. A chicken pox vaccination, or
proof that the student has already had
the disease, will be required of stu-
dents entering kindergarten or turning
12, according to SSMS nurse Vickie
Vaughan.
The Hepatitis B vaccine is admin-
istered in a series of three shots over
a period of six months, and the law
requires proof of vaccination 30 days
after they turn 12.
“They are given the first shot, then
have to wait one to two months, then
get another,” said Marsha Crane, a
nurse at Texas Department of Health
in Sulphur Springs. “The last shot
they get six months from the date
they got the original shot.”
Hepatitis B vaccines will be
mandatory from now on for 12-year-
olds, and is optional for youths 12-19.
Any child who has previously been
infected with Hepatitis B should not
be vaccinated as they have already
been treated for the disease. Crane
said of the state requirements.
Twelve-year-olds attending school
in Sulphur Springs will also be
required to have a chicken pox shot if
they have not already had the illness.
Those who hr e had chicken pox will
need to bring a signed note stating
when the child had it.
High school students between the
ages of 14 and 16 who have not had a
tetanus shot in the last 10 years will
also need to have the vaccine before
school starts. This will mainly affect
freshmen and sophomores, according
to Sulphur Springs High School nurse
Mary Lou Foster, but any student in
doubt should have their records
checked to make sure.
“We don’t give them their sched-
ules until they get their shots,” Foster
said. “They’re also going to hold
schedules at the Middle School until
[the students requiring them] get
caught up on their shots. If we don't,
it’s bad.”
“It's going to be interesting enforc-
ing it and keeping up with it,” Vaugh-
an said.
The district’s immunization policy
requires children to have had the fol-
lowing when entering kindergarten:
four Diphtheria-tetanus toxoids-per-
tussis shots, three polio shots, two
measles-mumps-rubella shots, three
Hepatitis B shots and a chicken pox
shot.
Any child 4 or older attending
classes in Sulphur Springs must pre-
sent proof of these vaccinations at the
time school starts if the aistrict does
not already have a record of all vac-
cines on file, according to Foster.
Tuesday, Aug. 15, will be registra-
tion day for students entering district
elementary schools for the first time.
Parents should report io their child’s
assigned campus between 8:30 a.m.
and 11:30 p.m. with the child’s immu-
nization record, records from a previ-
ous school, birth certificate and Social
Security card. Any new elementary
student who has yet to be assigned to
a campus should stop by the adminis-
tration building at 613 Connally St as
soon as possible for a campus assign-
ment.
Parents of children in Early Child-
hood Learning Center or Sulphur
Springs elementary schools should
also be aware that children will be
allowed to wear both white and
accent-colored uniform tops at any
time during the week. The district has
extended last year's policy of only
wearing the optional accent color to
include the whole week, according to
Assistant Superintendent Patsy
BoltonA
The accent it ECLC will be red,
while navy will be the optional color
at all elementary campuses.
>!
f# .
T
Sworn in s,an Ph0,°M,rta p,ns,<i1
Sulphur Springs Place 1 City Councilman Garry
Jordan was finally sworn into his post Tuesday
evening. Church-related matters had left Jordan
out of the city for the first two regular council meet-
ings since the election, preventing him from taking
the oath earlier.
Council will work to improve
drainage in area of Gena Drive
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK_
Sulphur Springs City Council members
voted to pursue the clearing of a creek to
alleviate flooding on Gena Drive.
Homeowners on the street in southeast
Sulphur Springs said their properties have
flooded after massive rains since May of
1999, and proposed during Tuesday’s regu-
lar council meeting that clearing debris from
the waterway would solve the problem.
Michelle Carter told council members her
6-year-old son has had nightmares because
of two floods in less than 13 months at her
home on Gena Drive. The first inundation in
May of 1999 caused $23,000 in damage, the
second, on June 21 of this year, resulting in
an estimated $30,000 loss.
“Right now, I’m not in my home, and it’s
already been a month,” Carter said.
Bill Ladd, one of Carter’s neighbors on
Gena Drive, said his residence has been
flooded three times in two years.
“The creek, I believe, if it was cleaned
and maintained would help alleviate the
problem,” he said.
City Manager Marc Maxwell said there
were basically two solutions — clear the
creek so water moves downstream faster, or
build retention areas upstream.
While constructing retention areas would
be effective, Maxwell said, it would also be
prohibitively expensive.
“To be quite honest, we could afford to
buy all the homes on Gena Drive that are
flooded out for the amount it would cost
(for retention construction)," Maxwell said.
Clearing the creek to make the water
move faster causes new problems down-
stream, he said, but also would not guaran-
tee flooding would be prevented in ihe
event of more massive storms such as those
that led to the flooding.
Maxwell said a review of rainfall records
kept by the city shows the storms in May
1995* and in June were some of the hardest
ever.
“We've had some very significant rain
events, but from what I’ve seen, we haven't
seen anything as dramatic as we have in
recent years,” he said. “If we get another
75-year or 100-year rain, all the channeling
in the world won’t help."
Past history may hinder clearing the
creek, as well.
A similar project undertaken about 10
years before apparently did not sit well with
the property owner that would have to grant
an easement to allow access to city crews to
clear the stream.
Final instructions
Staff Photo By Marta Plnaky
Hopkins County deputies gathered at the Sheriff’s
Office to get last-minute instructions from Sheriff
Butch Adams, left, before hitting the streets Tties-
day evening for National Neighbors Night Out, an
event designed to help heighten crime and drug-
prevention awareness. National Neighbors Night
Out also helped generate support for local anti-
crime programs, as well as strengthening neigh-
borhood spirit and police community relations.
Crime down 22 % in the city
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Major crimes reported in the city
of Sulphur Springs dropped 22 per-
cent in the first half of the year, con-
tinuing a downward trend after a big
jump one year ago.
The number of major offenses —
which include homicide, sexual
assault, robbery, assault (other than
simple assault), burglary, theft over
$200, and motor vehicle theft —
fell from 221 in the first half of
1999 to 173 in the first six months
of 2000.
That continues the drop recorded
in the last half of 1999. Reported
offenses jumped 39 percent in the
first half of 1999, but then declined
in the last half of the year, with only
154 offenses reported.
This year’s crime figures are
about the same as in 1998. when
162 offenses were reported in the
first half of the year, according to
statistics compiled by the Sulphur
Springs Police Department.
Property crimes — which
accounted for most of the 39 per-
cent rise in offenses in the first half
of 1999 — have declined the most,
falling from 73 to 44.
“I’m hesitant to say this because
we’ve had a few reported this mim-
ing, but burglaries are down, and
that's good news," Sulphur Springs
Police Chief Donnie Lewis said Fri-
day morning.
The only categories that saw an
increase were sexual assault, which
rose from zero to one, and robbery,
with seven cases reported, two more
than one year ago.
“Overall, the numbers are down.
and I’m pretty pleased," Lewis said.
“You're never happy when anything
goes up. but the reality is that
offenses are going to occur."
One of the categories that
climbed significantly in 1999 was
auto thefts, but Lewis was breathing
easier when the number dropped
from 23 at this time one year ago to
16
"1 was worried about having so
many motor vehicle thefts, but
they're down now," Lewis said.
The number of assaults declined
from 25 to 20, and thefts of more
than $200 dropped from 95 to 85.
No homicides were recorded in
either reporting period.
Lewis said he believes the pres-
ence of police on the street is still
the most effective tool to fight
crime.
Yard of
the Month
Margin Latham, left, chair-
woman of the Hopkins
County Chamber of Com-
merce's Beautification Com-
mittee. presents the Yard of
the Month award to P—Mar
Grayson. Grayson's land-
scape efforts >t her 211 E.
Ryral News: 4
Club News: 2
Council tables
software firm’s
land agreement
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Four Sulphur Springs City Council
members voted to table “indefinitely"
an agreement with a local software
company wanting to build a $1 mil-
lion facility and add more than
$500,000 to its payroll.
The four council members said
they had no problems with the terms
of the agreement with NetData, but
questioned whether Richard and Tra-
cy Irby, owners of Sulphur Springs
Fitness Center, had a fair shot at pur-
chasing the land involved in the deal.
“There was a miscommunication
that left a definite cloud in my mind,"
Councilman Valanderous Bell said
after voting to table the action during
Tuesday’s regular meeting of the
council. “With that cloud being there,
I wanted to know I could leave this
meeting tonight feeling that the Irbys
would be given equal opportunity to
pursue the same tract of land as was
NetData.”
The agreement was struck between
NetData. a Sulphur Springs company
that provides software services to
government offices in about 60 Texas
counties, and the Sulphur Springs-
Hopkins County Economic Develop-
ment Corporation. The EDC proposed
purchasing a 3.2-acre tract of land on
Industrial Drive for $21.(Kit) from
Hopkins County Industrial Fund and
granting the land to NetData, which is
pressed to expand its operations.
NetData would build a new facility
worth about $1 million and expand its
workforce from 31 employees to 45
employees within five years under
terms of the agreement. The compa-
ny's payroll averages about $38,000
per employee.
But the council members voted to
table the agreement, which had an
Aug. I deadline, after the owners of a
fitness center adjacent to the 3.2-acre
tract said they approached EDC Exec-
utive Vice President Randy Thomas
about buying the land but felt they
were treated "unfairly."
Tracy Irby told the council she had
approached EDC Executive Vice
President Randy Thomas about buy-
ing the 3.2 acres of land adjacent to
the fitness center for expansion and
parking.
“We are not interested in tax abate-
ments, just to expand our business."
Irby said.
Irby indicated she believed the
EDC was acting on the fitness cen-
ter’s behalf, but now feels the EDC
dismissed their request to bus the
land out of hand.
“I felt we haven't been treated fair-
ly,” she said.
She said she was told to contact
David Graves with NetData to discuss
procuring part of the 3.2-acre tract for
parking, but the agreement between
the EDC and NetData would have
precluded a private deal between the
fitness center and software company
for such an exchange.
I want to know why we couldn't
purchase the land, and then it w as just
given away," she said.
No offer was ever made lor the
land, but Irby said "That was not the
issue."
Carl Bryan, chairman of the I DC
board of directors, told the council in
response that the EDC does not own
the land around the fitness center, nor
should it properly be involved in such
Please See CITY, Pg. 4
Jf
Come right in
Thomas Fenimore. portraying Willy Wonka, ushers the golden tick-
et winners into his factory with a sweeping gesture Tuesday night
during dress rehearsal of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The
Sulphur Springs Community Players will present the play Aug. 3-5
and Aug. 10-12 at 8 p.m. at the Main Street Theater. For reservations,
call 885-0107.
Reunions: 3
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Keys, Scott & Lamb, Bill. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 27, Ed. 1 Friday, August 4, 2000, newspaper, August 4, 2000; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth779981/m1/1/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.