News

An important milestone was crossed earlier this week with organizers behind the push to build a playground honoring members of the Hardman and Watson families that passed in a tragic accident in late 2014 announcing that the construction phase of the project had begun Sept. 5.

On Nov. 19, 2014, five people with ties to the Wills Point community, primary school teacher Trudi Hardman, her husband Michael, a former teacher in Wills Point who was employed at John F. Kennedy Elementary in Terrell at the time of the accident, and three children from their blended family (Adam and Kaci Hardman and Dakota Watson), were killed in a single-vehicle accident on their way to Florida for a family vacation.

The construction of the playground has been a labor of love for family and friends of the Hardman and Watson families for more than two years, beginning in earnest with a committee meeting in January 2015 to determine how best to honor the lives of those lost in the accident.

Local first responders, including the Wills Point Police Department, Wills Point Volunteer Fire Department and Champion EMS, responded to the 900 block of Highway 80 late last week in response to multi-vehicle accident that sent one person to the hospital and blocked three out of four lanes of traffic for a brief time.

According to reports of the accident, a 2004 Mazda driven by Jenna Justice and occupied by her three-year old son was traveling east down Highway 80 towards the downtown area when a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox by Deloyce Thorn pulled onto the roadway from a private drive striking Justice’s vehicle.

The accident caused airbags to deploy in both vehicles, spinning the Equinox to the northern side of the roadway and forcing the Mazda to stop with heavy damage to the front of the vehicle.

A report on the annual outside financial audit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2016, was presented to the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court Aug. 22.

John Manning of the Patillo Brown and Hill L. L. P. audit firm, located in Waco, made the presentation to the commissioners after being introduced by VZC Auditor Freddy Thomas.

“We are here to give you an unmodified opinion on your financial statements,” said Manning. “As outside auditors, we can give you one of four different types of opinions and the unmodified opinion is the highest level of assurance that we can offer.”

Manning delivered good news to the commissioners regarding the work being done in the county auditor’s office.

The Wills Point ISD turned to its messenger system Aug. 31, advising parents and guardians that one of the district’s school buses had been involved in a minor traffic accident on its morning route to pick up kids to begin the school day.

No injuries were caused by the incident which occurred on FM-751 with the bus continuing its delivery route to all campuses following an inspection by district personnel.

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The Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial held a balloon release in honor of veterans, prisoners of war/missing in action and those currently serving in the military on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4

The annual event attracted people from across the county with funds raised from the balloons purchased benefiting the VZC Veterans Memorial.

Each color of a balloon represented a certain status of military personnel. Red and blue balloons were in honor of veterans or anyone; black in honor of POW/MIA; yellow balloons for those currently serving in the military; and white balloons in honor of those who have retired.

VZC Veterans Memorial committee member Shorty Farmer offered remarks to those in attendance, stating that the balloon release was also in honor of the late Red Montgomery.

The Wills Point ISD has put together a concerted effort to ready students for life after graduation from high school, beefing up its Career and Technology department with a state of the art CTE facility completed in 2014.

The facility allowed the district to expand available coursework for students, including Auto Tech I and Auto Tech II courses.

Students in both auto tech and small engine repair classes were each given a boost this week with the Wills Point Police Department continuing its push for community involvement by donating tools and other pieces of equipment for student use during a brief presentation ceremony Aug. 29.

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Fall seed meeting Sept. 11

Northeast Texas Farmers Co-op will hold fall seed meeting starting at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 11 at the Farm Bureau meeting room in Canton. RSVP to 903-455-6365.

Lakeside Music Festival set

The second annual Lakeside Music Festival will be held from 11 a.m. until sunset, Sept. 30 until dark at the West Tawakoni City Park. Admission is free. Bring a chair and enjoy the fireworks, said organizers.

At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 4, Wills Point Native Wade Crouch will be vying for a chance at $10,000 on Game Show Network’s new game show “Snap Decision.”

Hosted by David Alan Grier, “Snap Decision” is a new comedy game show that puts preconceptions, first impressions, and gut instinct to the ultimate test. Studio contestants go head-to-head for the grand prize as they are asked to make snap judgments about three strangers, recently interviewed on the street. However, looks can be deceiving, as people are often not who they may seem, leading to unexpected twists, turns, and outrageous and hilarious results. Crouch will compete with two other contests for $10,000.

At 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 4, the VZC Veterans Memorial will hold the annual Veterans Memorial Balloon Release event at the Veterans Memorial Plaza at the intersection of Hwys 19 and 243.

“Balloons are ready to be sold for $3 each from the Veterans Memorial Visitors Center and Museum in Canton,” said Diane Farmer, VZC Veterans Memorial PR chair. “This is a great way to honor and remember your veterans. Balloons will also be for sale at the event. Please bring a lawn chair to enjoy the ceremony. The Pledge of Allegiance, prayers for Veterans and those serving, music and comments will fill the agenda. Remember, some gave all and all gave some.”

In a 4-1 vote, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court approved a proposed tax rate for the new fiscal year Aug. 22 that exceeds the preceding year’s rate as well as the effective and rollback tax rates.

The proposed property tax rate for the 2017-‘18 fiscal year which begins Oct. 1, 2017, and concludes Sept. 30, 2018, is $.615847 per $100 valuation which exceeds the rollback rate requiring two public hearings prior to the final adoption of the proposed tax rate.

The first public hearing will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 and the second hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 8. Both public hearings will take place in the VZC Courthouse.

Information released by the commissioners’ court showed that the preceding year’s tax rate was $.58547.

The effective tax rate is .552805 while the rollback tax rate is $.587864, according to the commissioners’ court.