Officer Aaron Long and K9 officer Zeus posed with the 2009 Ford Crown Victoria vehicle donated to the WPPD by the Grand Prairie Police Department free of charge. The vehicle came fully equipped with equipment to operate a K9 on a daily basis.
By David Kapitan Staff Writer
Since coming into service in 2016, the most recent iteration of the Wills Point Police Department’s K9 program has been a major boon to the community, directly leading to drugs being taken off the streets and numerous criminals being put behind bars.
Due to the efforts of city councilman Lance LyBrand and Grand Praire Police Chief Steve Dye, the local K9 program was made even more formidable last week with the addition of a fully equipped 2009 Ford Crown Victoria to the WPPD fleet at no charge to taxpayers.
Local voters were kept plenty busy throughout 2016, going to the polls multiple times to cast their ballots in both local and national elections. Eligible voters within the boundaries of the Wills Point ISD will get their first opportunity to cast a ballot in the new year beginning Monday, with one position on the school board and a revised bond package to be decided.
The WPISD Board of Trustees entered the filing period earlier this year with two potential spots open: Place 6 held by Russell Hiler and Place 7 held by Jeanne Deen.
Hiler was the only candidate to return paperwork for Place 6, assuring that he will be sworn in for a new three-year term at the May board meeting.
Place 7 saw the most activity of any board position, with incumbent Jeanne Deen opting not to file for re-election and three newcomers, Kay Crosby, Jason Groom and Jim Lamb, all returning paperwork announcing their intentions to run.
Two-year old Josie Groom was more than happy to share some of her Easter spoils with 22 month old Callie Bates at the annual Community-Wide Easter Egg Hunt hosted by Stonepoint Church April 15 at Lester Park.
Local voters were kept plenty busy throughout 2016, going to the polls multiple times to cast their ballots in both local and national elections. Eligible voters within the boundaries of the Wills Point ISD will get their first opportunity to cast a ballot in the new year beginning Monday, with one position on the school board and a revised bond package to be decided.
The WPISD Board of Trustees entered the filing period earlier this year with two potential spots open: Place 6 held by Russell Hiler and Place 7 held by Jeanne Deen.
Hiler was the only candidate to return paperwork for Place 6, assuring that he will be sworn in for a new three-year term at the May board meeting.
Place 7 saw the most activity of any board position, with incumbent Jeanne Deen opting not to file for re-election and three newcomers, Kay Crosby, Jason Groom and Jim Lamb, all returning paperwork announcing their intentions to run.
Final preparations were made this week for the return of a community favorite with the Bluebird Festival set to mark its 24th anniversary in downtown Wills Point April 22. Ahead of this year’s event, the WP Bluebird Festival Association has announced that the festival will be dedicated to the memory of Adele Monning who passed April 4, 2017.
Highlights for this year's festival calendar will include arts and crafts vendors, the Bluebird Car Show, Bluebird Pageant, a food court, live music, carnival, games, train show and more.
The carnival, which opened April 20 and runs through April 23, will once again feature rides and games for children of all ages, with wristbands expected to cost $20 April 20-22, and $15 for April 23 between noon-6 p.m.
Local law enforcement officials were on high alert throughout most of the morning April 6, looking for an elderly man who had wandered from his home in the early morning hours. According to the Wills Point Police Department Facebook post published at 6:59 a.m., 74-year old Dave Lewis was last seen at approximately 6 a.m. near the 500 block of Wynne Road.
The post described Lewis as last being seen “wearing dark green jacket, real baggy blue jeans, navy sock cap and glasses.”
Multiple agencies responded to the area, conducting searches on the ground and via search helicopter in the southern part of Wills Point and along Highway 80 towards the Elmo area.
At approximately 12:23, dispatchers notified law enforcement officials that a subject matching Lewis' description had been seen near the Terrace Drive area of Wills Point.
Wills Point Independent School District is set to hire five new instructional coaches for the 2017-‘18 school year. Applications are being submitted and the first round of interviews will begin as soon as April 25.
Barbie McMath, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction stated that, “Hiring instructional coaches is a significant step forward for the district. These professional educators will provide strategic, real-time learning opportunities for classroom teachers.”
An instructional coach is someone whose chief responsibility is to bring evidence-based practices into classrooms by working with teachers and other school leaders. Instructional coaching involves two people; the classroom teacher and the coach. Coaches work one-on one and in small groups with teachers, providing timely modeling, guidance, training, feedback and resources. Their main focus is to provide practical strategies for engaging students and improving learning.
The Wills Point City Council tackled an agenda light on major action items Tuesday night, breezing through four brief topics including changes to internal administrative policies, budget amendments and delaying the implementation of increase rates from Centerpoint Energy for the maximum allotted time frame allowed.
Business opened with a pair of recognition items as city employee Chase Sullivan was commended for receiving his "D" water license and fellow employee Aaron Riley was commended for receiving his "D" wastewater license.
In addressing the first action item, city administrator Pam Pearson explained that Centerpoint Energy had issued a statement of intent to increase rates in the city of Wills Point for residential service.
The Wills Point Tiger Junior High Symphonic Band brought home a Sweepstakes Award Region 3 UIL Concert Sightreading Contest in Canton April 5-6.
By David Kapitan Staff Writer
The future of the Wills Point Tiger Band program appears to be as bright as ever this week following another strong performance by the WPJH Concert and Symphonic bands at the Region 3 UIL Concert Sightreading Contest in Canton April 5-6.
JH Band Director Bobby McCoy stated, “We are proud to report that the Wills Point Junior High Symphonic Band came home from UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest on with straight "One" Superior Ratings. This is our varsity group and they earned a top rating from every judge on stage and in sightreading. This makes it a clean sweep for our bands with Sweepstakes at all levels. Wills Point and Sunnyvale were the only schools in our division to achieve straight ones at the JH varsity level and Wills Point was the only non-varsity band to achieve this accomplishment.”
