Courtesy Photo The WPHS Winter Guard consisting of Hannah Meyers, Rhealee Perez, Jasmin Herrera, Samantha Keener, Joanne Mendez, Kere Tallent, Samantha O’Neill, Haylee Gonzales, Dezier Martinez, Julie Stevens, Emily Woolverton, Kassie Nicklass, Summer Lowe, Chelsea Manion and Gissel Rodriguez finished first overall in the Scholastic A classification at Lamar High School.
By David Kapitan Staff Writer
The Wills Point Winter Guard has been a program on the rise in recent years, picking up right where it left off at the end of its successful 2015-’16 school year by continuing to earn trophies and promotions with top finishes. Winter Guard members, under the direction of Nathan Ascano, made their Lamar High School in Arlington Jan. 28 to compete at the most recent North Texas Colorguard Association event. Ascano explained, “The NTCA has over 300 units registered this year, and there were 63 units competing at this particular contest. That number includes Scholastic groups, which consists of middle and high schools, and Independent groups, which are kids ages 14-22 not associated with a school.” Judging at the event is conducted in a variety of captions, including movement, equipment and design analysis. Additionally, the contest includes two general effect judges.
One of the signature events of the Wills Point Riding Club yearly calendar, a free chili luncheon to thank the community for its continued support of WPRC events, will be held Feb. 9. Chili will be served beginning from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Deen Building of Russell Memorial United Methodist Church located on S. 4th St. in Wills Point. Organizers stressed that everyone in the community is welcome to attend, and that no donations would be accepted.
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Residents that chose to live and work locally in order to avoid the hustle and bustle of big city traffic likely had their patience tested Jan. 30 as an accident near the Kaufman-Van Zandt County line resulted in lengthy backups throughout the city. The incident that triggered the local traffic flow to spike began shortly before 11 a.m. along Interstate 20 near mile marker 509. According to reports, a multi-vehicle accident was set in motion when a tanker truck hauling fuel failed to slow down as it was heading westbound, striking a pick-up truck. The initial accident triggered a domino effect, eventually growing to include another passenger vehicle and two other 18-wheelers.
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Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, has long been in the public consciousness. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, famed New York Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with and subsequently passed from the disease. ALS awareness has continued to remain at the forefront courtesy of the Ice Bucket Challenge and diagnosis of former New Orleans Saint football standout Steve Gleason in recent years. While awareness of the disease remains high, knowledge of what the disease is and how it affects the human body is much less known. According to the ALS Association, the disease is defined as a “progressive neurodegenerative condition that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Essentially, people afflicted by ALS progressively suffer from the loss of motor neurons that initiate and control muscle movement, resulting in the wasting away of muscles that control everything from moving, eating, speaking and even breathing
Weeks one and two of candidate filing could not have turned out much differently as no new filers entered their names into the running for either a seat on the Wills Point City Council or Wills Point Independent School District Board of Trustees. In stark contrast, the first week of the filing period included incumbents Mark Turner, Oscar Rogers, Lance LyBrand and Kyle Anderson all filing for re-election in the city’s upcoming election and Russell Hiler returning paperwork to declare his re-election bid for his place on the school board. A person must meet several criteria to run, including: being a resident of Texas for one year; a resident of the city of Wills Point for six months to run in the city race or a resident of the Wills Point ISD boundaries for six months to run in the school race; being at least 18 years of age; and being a registered voter at the time of the election.
Last week, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick named Senator Bob Hall, Vice Chairman of Transportation. Senator Hall was also appointed to serve on education, agriculture, water and rural affairs and veterans affairs and border security. "I want to thank Lt. Governor Patrick for his confidence in appointing me to these positions," said Hall. "Not only are these areas important issues for Senate District 2, but they are crucial to Texas' continued leadership in economic prosperity, free market competition, and rock-solid conservatism." According to the legislative priorities set by Senate leadership, these four committees will make pivotal decisions on hot-topic issues ranging from school choice, to toll roads, to securing the Texas-Mexico border, and provides Senator Hall an opportunity to have a meaningful impact on important legislative matters this session.
The Council of Van Zandt Co. Communities will hold Van Zandt County Days 2017, at the Capitol in Austin, Tuesday, March 7, 2017. For more information on attending, contact Karen Samples at 214-534-8990.
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On Saturday Feb.11, 2-Acre Lake, behind the Walmart Super Center by Mill Creek Lake, in Canton will be the site of a Kids’ Trout Fishing Day. The event, which is sponsored by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the City of Canton, local merchants, civic organizations, and many individual contributors, will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Soft drinks and hot dogs will be provided, and there will be drawings for door prizes for participating kids. Anglers are encouraged to bring their rods, reels and bait, to take a chance at catching some of the 2,852 rainbow trout that will be stocked by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Whole kernel corn, Berkley power bait, and small spinners are generally the favorite baits for trout, event organizers said.
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SH 198 Widening Project (Notice of Project Completion) • Limits: from SH 243 in Canton southwest to 0.4 miles northeast of FM 316 near Phalba • Contractor: Big Creek Construction, Ltd., of Waco • Cost: $5 million • Anticipated Completion Date: January 2017 This widening job is now complete.
FM 316 Widening Project (Notice of Project Completion) • Limits: From FM 1256 south to FM 3080 • Contractor: Big Creek Construction, Ltd., of Hewitt • Cost: $255,474.00 • Anticipated Completion Date: January 2017 This project to widen the roadway and install safety end treatments and advance warning signs is complete.
Courtesy Photo Lettie Clark of the Wills Point Pilot Club receives a $3,000 check from Joy Long, representing the TVEC Charitable Foundation. The foundation is funded by the voluntary donations of TVEC members through Operation Round Up, which rounds up monthly electric bills to the next whole dollar.
The Trinity Valley Electric Cooperative Charitable Foundation awarded a grant in the amount of $3000 to the Pilot Club of Wills Point. The grant was awarded Dec. 20, 2016. The foundation is funded by donations from Operation Round Up. Operation Round Up is a voluntary program that allows TVEC members to round up their monthly electric bills to the next whole dollar amount. The portion that is rounded up goes to the TVEC Charitable Foundation and may be used to award grant requests to local charitable organizations. The Pilot Club of Wills Point is part of Pilot International, and follows the mission statement “To serve by furthering Pilot International's humanitarian efforts through charitable, educational, and research programs in communities throughout the world.” The donation by TVEC to the local club will go towards providing Lifeline units to senior members of the community.
