The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1993 Page: 1 of 4
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(ABSORBED THE GAZETTE CIRCULATION BY PURCHASE MAY 12, 1928)
VOL. 118-NO. 24
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, JUNE 11,1993
4 PAGES - 25 CENTS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
Harrington named to ASCS board
By JOHN CHURCHILL
In announcing their pick for the chairman of
the Texas State Committee of the Agricultural
Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS)
last week, officials at the U.S. Department of
Agriculture also tapped Vera Harrington of
Hopkins County to serve on the organization’s
five-member state board.
Harrington, a longtime Hopkins County
daily fanner and rancher, was notified last
week of the appointment by interim U.S. Sen.
Bob Krueger and U.S. Rep. E. “Kika” de la
Garza shortly after Panhandle farmer and
rancher Ray Joe Riley was picked for the
hoard's top spot.
Die first meeting of the board, which was set
up to oversee the farm programs of the ASCS
throughout the state, is scheduled for June 28 -
July 2 on the campus of Texas A&M Universi-
ty in College Station.
“From what I can gather so far, our meetings
will last for one week each month down at
A&M,” Harrington said by phone Tuesday
morning.
“I understand that it is one of the most pow-
erful commissions in the state, so I just feel
honored that I was chosen for this position.”
Harrington said that she first heard of her
possible appointment to the committee about
six months ago.
“At first, I really didn’t want to do it, because
I thought that I would have to spend one week
a month up in Washington,” she said. “But
when I found out that we would meet at A&M,
I warmed up to the idea a little more.
“It's going to be a real adventure for me,”
Harrington added.
“Again, this is not anything that I pursued, so
I am very grateful and honored just to be con-
sidered for the position.”
Although the board’s first meeting is only
about 2'A weeks away, she said Tuesday that
she is not quite sure what the agenda will hold.
“Well, I know that a lot of what we will have
to deal with this year is going to concern the
possible consolidation of a lot of state ASCS
offices, so I imagine that that’s one of the first
things that we will have to consider.”
Harrington said that cutbacks in the federal
and state governments will mean large changes
for federal programs dealing with agriculture
and farmer loan programs, one of the main
duties of the ASCS.
Also appointed to the board were Raul Die-
rina Jr., a Brownsville rancher; Edward D.
Lehman Jr., a former member of the state com-
mittee; and Jackson County rancher Gerald M.
Clark.
According to a press release from the state
ASCS office, the state ASC Committee over-
sees farm program activities of the ASCS
throughout Texas.
The organization boasts 1,400 employees
statewide, and supervises the distribution of
more than $1.5 billion in federal farm program
benefits to the state’s farmers and ranchers.
APPOINTED: Local daily farmer Vera
Harrington has been named to the
ASCS state board.
SSISD
seeking
partners
Businesses asked to
give funds, expertise
By JOHN GUIBORD
The Sulphur Springs ISD appealed
to 43 local businesses on Monday for
contributions of time and money to
enhance student curriculum.
“The sky’s the limit as far as possi-
ble involvement and participation
between business and the school dis-
trict,” Billy Sam Elliott, executive
vice president of the Hopkins County
Chamber of Commerce, told area
business representatives. “We hope
we can get into occupational compe-
tency programs, where we could
bring a student into a business for a
day or two, in addition to many other
programs.”
Superintendent Paul Glover said
the district will open a new computer
literacy lab at the middle school in
August, and he hopes businesses will
assist financially in the project.
“It will cost $50,000 to completely
refurbish the lab," Glover said. “Our
computer lab has been [at the middle
school] nine or 10 years, and we’re
limiting what the students can do.
“There's been a tradition through
the years that whatever was needed in
our district, somehow, the business
community would always step for-
ward. And that's what we’re asking
you to do now.
“We need your help, expertise and
knowledge more than anything else.
If we don’t get a penny from any-
body, that’s OK, as long as you com-
mit to us that when we come to you,
you’ll help us by coming into our
classrooms and doing some other
things to help get our students where
they need to be to go to college or
join the work force after high school,”
Glover said.
GTE of Sulphur Springs was the
first business to contribute, donating
SSISD board to
break ground
for new library
Construction to take 300 days
By JOHN GUIBORD
Partnership
Billy Sam Elliott, executive vice
president of the Hopkins County
Chamber of Commerce, addressed
representatives from 43 local busi-
nesses Monday at Sulphur Springs
Middle School.
Staff Photo By Lairy Barr
$1,000 for the computer lab, Elliott
said.
“This is something that we really
believe in,” said Lois Bums, a GTE
spokeswoman. “This project fits in
with the two big areas we want to
support: economic development and
education.
“It’s something we’re happy to sup-
port now, and hope to stay involved
with,” Bums said.
Elliott said some businesses have
rules against donations, but this isn’t
a problem.
“In that case, you can donate the
money to the Hopkins County Cham-
ber of Commerce education commit-
tee,” he said. “We’ll accept the checks
and pass them along to the district.”
Elliott said the idea for a school-
business partnership was spawned at
the chamber of commerce.
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Staff Photo By Larry Barr
A good start
Lois Burns, left, and Chuck Cone, right, from GTE of Sulphur Springs,
present a check for $1,000 to Sulphur Springs Middle School Principal
Foy Williams to help pay for the school’s new computer literacy lab.
The Sulphur Springs ISD board of
trustees will break ground for the new
high school library at 6:15 p.m.
tonight.
Their regularly scheduled board
meeting will follow at 7 p.m. in the
administration building.
Jim Clark of Simons, Burch &
Clark Architect of lyier said Audley
Moore Construction Co. of Sulphur
Springs anticipates construction tak-
ing 300 calendar days, with comple-
tion of the new library set for mid-
February.
“We are going to be finishing the
new library far ahead of our originally
scheduled date (May 13).”
Renovation of the existing library
will be done by Aug. 1, 1994, Clark
said.
Joe Moore of Audley Moore said
the price tag for the project is a little
over $1 million.
“Remodeling of the old [library]
will only be $50,000-$ 100,000 of the
project budget,” he said.
Clark said the new library will be
approximately 15,000 square feet.
“AH the facilities will meet the
Americans with Disabilities Act of
1992,” he said.
‘There will be a long ramp, auto-
matic doors and specially equipped
computer stations.”
Dale Guest, SSISD energy manage-
ment director, said he and Paul
Blount, director of maintenance and
plant services, met with Simons,
Burch & Clark during the design
stage of the new library.
“We tried to assure ourselves the
heating, air conditioning and lighting
met all the energy efficiency stan-
dards we’re trying to meet,” Guest
said.
“The architects sent the plans to the
governor’s energy office for their rec-
ommendations, and so we feel we’re
going to have a very efficient library.”
At their monthly meeting, the
board is expected to approve recom-
mendations made by the career ladder
committee, Assistant Superintendent
Randy Reed said.
“Our career ladder allotment for
1992-93 is $342,900,” he said. “This
will not be sufficient to pay reduced
supplements to ail teachers who met
the state minimum eligibility require-
ments.
“It is the recommendation of the
committee to the board that stricter
performance criteria be applied,”
Reed said.
SSISD Business Manager James
Bassham said the state appropriations
bill passed by the Legislature and
signed by Gov. Ann Richards elimi-
nated the career ladder system for
teachers in the 1993-94 school year.
“It’s something neither teachers nor
administrators were hoping would
happen, because teachers need to be
rewarded,” Bassham said.
“No teacher’s [merit] pay will be
reduced because of the elimination of
the career ladder, but right now we
don’t have a new instrument for
appraising teachers,” he said.
Superintendent Paul Glover said
those teachers already on the career
ladder will be compensated. He said
abolishing the ladder was a mistake.
“They’re eliminating merit pay
because they think it will save the
state money, but some system will
have to be worked out,” Glover said.
In other business, the board will
consider approval of the five-year
technology plan update.
v,'.'
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_
County attorney gets
first-ever assistant
Fergurson named to new post
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The first assistant
Ron Fergurson was named as assistant county attor- the county prosecutor’s office has ever had. The new
ney Monday. Hopkins County Attorney Robert New- assistant will handle adult and child protective cases,
som said he believes Fergurson is the first assistant as well as juvenile and misdemeanor cases.
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Hopkins County Attorney Robert
Newsom announced Monday the
addition of an assistant attorney to his
office, perhaps the first one ever in
the county.
“I believe he is the first full-time
assistant county attorney in the histo-
ry of Hopkins County,” Newsom said
of Ron Fergurson. “I’ve never heard
of one.”
A self-described Air Force brat
who went to seven different high
schools, Feigurson moved to Sulphur
Springs 14 years ago after meeting
his wife Catherine, a Sulphur Springs
native, while both were attending East
Texas State University.
The couple has two daughters, Tri-
na, 13, and Kristen, 9.
Fergurson, a certified public
accountant, worked for Grocery Sup-
ply Co. Distributing for five years
before deciding to attend law school
at Oklahoma City University three
years ago.
He passed his bar exam on May 7,
one day before he finished law
school.
‘There’s a law in Texas that if you
lack four hours [of college credit] or
less you can go ahead and take the
bar exam,” Fergurson said. “Robert
knew about this rule, and he told me'
about it. I went back to summer
school and carried 18 hours in the fall
so I could make this qualification.”
He said his work at a private
accounting firm led him to find he
enjoyed helping people.
“I worked in a public accounting
firm here with Doug Moore for three
years before he sold out,” Fergurson
said. “That's where I first had the
client contact.”
2nd handgun
course will
be offered
For the second time in a little
over a month, local police are
offering a handgun training
course for women.
"There’B a lot of interest in
this course,” said Det. Jay
Owens, one of the instructors at
the first class held in May.
“Especially with the sexual
assaults we've had in the area,
we’ve had a lot of interest.”
Two cases of sexual assault
reported in May spurred interest
in gun purchases in the city.
“It’s targeted specifically
toward ladies who are new
handgun owners or are new to
shooting,” Owens said. “If you
do have a new handgun you
need to undergo some type of
training before you use the gun.”
The course will begin at 8
a.m. mi June 19 in the Municipal
Courtroom, 125 S. Davis.
Tuition for the class is $25.
Rural News: 4
Club News: 2
Reunions: 3
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Keys, Clarke & Lamb, Bill. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 118, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, June 11, 1993, newspaper, June 11, 1993; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth780153/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.