News

The Wills Point Tiger Band hit the marching contest season with a vengeance over a seven day stretch beginning Oct. 7, marching in Mesquite, Sunnyvale, Mineola and Princeton with their new show entitled “Dia de los Muertos.”

Tiger Band director John Young noted, “Musically it is one of my favorite productions that we have done. It requires great technique from the woodwinds, brass and percussion. Visually our guard under the direction of Nathan Ascano has been amazing. They have progressed to another level this year visually and have a very technically demanding show."

Several Van Zandt County officials were given the opportunity to share their thoughts about the recent tax rate increase approved by the VZC Commissioners Court during an Oct. 9 meeting of the VZC Tea Party held at Edom City Limits.

The VZC Commissioners Court voted 4-1 on Sept. 12 to increase the county tax rate by three cents which is beyond the rollback rate.

A petition drive is currently underway in the county to attempt to get the VZC commissioners court to call for a tax rollback election in 2018.

Dr. Dwayne Collins, the founder and director of the VZC Tea Party, welcomed the crowd of around 60 to the meeting in Edom which exceeded two hours.

The chase for a spot in this year's 4A UIL Football State Playoffs officially gets underway this week for District 6-4A teams with Wills Point, Canton, Dallas Lincoln, Dallas Roosevelt, Emory Rains and Ferris all set to begin play against one another beginning Oct. 13.

District openers are scheduled to include Wills Point hosting Dallas Roosevelt for Homecoming, Canton hosting Ferris, and Rains hosting Dallas Lincoln.

Roosevelt, which finished 2016 with a 2-8 record overall, enters its matchup with Wills Point after a 2-3 start to open the 2017 season.

Roosevelt opened the season at home Sept. 1, falling 41-20 to Spruce. The Mustangs lost to 29-15 to Dallas Madison the following week before pulling out a 30-27 win over North Dallas Sept. 15 and a 42-0 shutout win over Pinkston Sept. 22. Wilmer-Hutchins recorded a decisive victory over the Mustangs ahead of the bye week, scoring a 41-6 win over Roosevelt Sept. 29.

Duchesses vying for the title of 2017 WPHS Homecoming Queen will include Claire Hiler, Molly Harris, Hannah Myers, Grace Roberts and Maddie Booth. The announcement of this year’s Queen will be made tonight (Oct. 13) at halftime of the District 6-4A contest between the Wills Point Tigers and Dallas Roosevelt Mustangs at Ken Autry Davis Field.

Following a recommendation from Van Zandt County Fire Marshal James Lehman, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court tabled the issue of a potential burn ban during a brief meeting Oct. 4.

Lehman reported to the commissioners’ court that there are 57 counties across the state currently under a burn ban including Henderson and Kaufman counties.

Lehman remarked that rain showers that came through the county Oct. 3 had changed his mind about requesting a burn ban.

“We have received a number of calls from citizens asking about a possible burn ban,” said Lehman. “We are close to needing a burn ban but I recommend we table this and take another look at the situation in two weeks when we meet again. It is a concern but right now, knock on wood, we are not seeing a whole lot of grass fire calls and fire calls overall at the current time.” Commissioners agreed to bring the subject back on the agenda for the Oct. 18 meeting.

Van Zandt County Pct. 2 citizen Ronnie Jones has been working for the past several weeks seeking enough signatures on petitions to force the VZC Commissioners Court to call for a tax rollback election in 2018.

With the help of approximately 45 other volunteers, Jones is confident that the necessary number of over 2,500 signatures can be reached prior to the Dec. 12, 2017, deadline.

The VZC Clerk’s office had previously reported that at least 10 percent of the registered voters in the county were needed to sign the petitions and force the commissioners court to call for a tax rollback election but that figure is actually seven percent, according to Elsa Smith, the Chief Election Deputy in the VZC Clerk’s office.

The Van Zandt County Regional Airport will be the place to be locally on Saturday, with a wide range of events set to touch down as part of this year’s annual Fly-In event Oct. 14.

The VZCRA Fly-In is scheduled from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m., and will include hands on aviation fun for the whole family, a bounce house for children, a car show, prize drawings as well as the Civil Air Patrol breakfast and lunch.

Among the newest additions to this year's event will be the Wills Point Police Department providing child fingerprint and DNA kits.

The annual fly-in, which includes a series of events for both children and adults, has been the latest addition to a lengthy airport revitalization project that has included striping projects, replacement of lighting systems, the installation of a fuel tank and installation of a card reader in 2013, construction of a new terminal building in 2014 and a runway overlay project that was completed in 2015.

The Historic US 80 Hi-Way Sale will begin at 8 a.m. daily Oct. 20-22 and will draw crowds from far and wide looking for a bargain, according to the East Texas Tourism Association.

Organized to promote and increase tourism trade and traffic along US 80, the first coast-to-coast, all-weather highway in America, the 2,400 mile route begins in Savannah, Ga., makes its way through East Texas and concludes in San Diego, Calif.

The three-state event will cover a 392-mile route – one of the nation’s longest – from Mesquite, through Louisiana to Jackson, Miss.

It was a night of recognitions and reports for the Wills Point ISD this week with the board of trustees honoring the work done by district employees before getting a series of updates from administrators Oct. 9.

Board business opened with a series of recognitions that included students from Valerie Grey’s class at Earnest O. Woods Intermediate School leading meeting attendees in pledges to both the Texas and U.S. flags.

Woods Intermediate Principal Melanie Mullin explained the students were selected to lead the pledges after winning the campuses’ new College Wednesdays contest. Students were presented special certificates from board president C.W. Wilson after making a presentation on one of the colleges they researched.

Board members proceeded to move on to staff recognitions, honoring members of the custodial staff and principals with certificates of appreciation for their hard work and dedication to the district.

First responders, including members of the Wills Point Police Department, Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office, Wills Point Volunteer Fire Department and Champion EMS were all dispatched to a local apartment complex Tuesday afternoon in response to reports of an incident involving gunshots and a resident reportedly struck in the lower extremities by a bullet.

According to reports, two males visited a mutual acquaintance at the Royal Lane Apartments located in the northern portion of Wills Point shortly after 1 p.m. Oct. 10.

The situation escalated quickly with an argument turning into a physical confrontation between the two visitors to the apartment, the resident, and a friend of the resident that was on scene at the time of the incident.