News

Local law enforcement officials and first responders had their hands full early last week, after a series of traffic incidents involving the same vehicle resulted in damage to vehicles, multiple injuries and a fatality.

According to reports, the incident began at approximately 11 p.m. Oct. 10 when the Wills Point PD was notified by Champion EMS of a male subject standing in the middle of the road at a residence in the 800 block of S. Fourth Street.

While traveling south down Fourth Street en route to the scene, the Wills Point officer assisting in the incident was passed by a silver Mazda without its headlights on heading in a northbound direction at an excessive rate of speed.

The officer activated his lights to initiate a traffic stop, seeing the Mazda run through the stop sign at S. Fourth Street and O'Neal Street before continuing northbound.

Registered voters residing within the boundaries of the Wills Point ISD will soon have an opportunity to have their voices heard, with early voting set to kick off Monday morning on the school district’s $42.5 million bond proposal.

The Bond

The Wills Point ISD has been making a strong push to generate support for their bond proposal in recent months, holding community meetings, sending out flyers, making visits with various local organizations and producing videos outlining various aspects of the district’s goals moving forward.

The bond push is designed to accomplish a variety of improvement and construction projects for the district, most notably the construction of a new junior high campus, as well as additions and renovations at the primary campus, renovations at both the intermediate and high school campus and for the construction of a new road between Terrace Drive and Wingo Way to alleviate strains caused by bus traffic.

The National FFA organization recently announced that Cheryl Kinney, a teacher at Wills Point High School, has been selected to receive the Honorary American FFA Degree.

This award is given to those who advance agricultural education and FFA through outstanding personal commitment.

The National FFA Organization works to enhance the lives of youth through agricultural education. Without the efforts of highly dedicated individuals, thousands of young people would not be able to achieve success that, in turn, contributes directly to the overall well-being of the nation.

The Honorary American FFA Degree is an opportunity to recognize those who have gone beyond valuable daily contributions to make an extraordinary long-term difference in the lives of students, inspiring confidence in a new generation of agriculturists.

With budgeting items and tax rates for the current fiscal year firmly in their rearview mirror, the Wills Point City Council convened Tuesday night to tackle a relatively light agenda of city business for the month of October.

The city’s agenda opened with several items of public recognition, including WPPD Chief Lonnie Carroll introducing Zeus as the city’s new K9 officer and officer Aaron Long as Zeus’ handler.

Carroll explained, “Zeus came to us from a highly regarded training center in the Austin area called Pacesetter. One of the things I was glad to see is he is a narcotic detection dog only – it’s not an attack dog…Aaron has put in an unbelievable amount of time and effort to make this happen.”

The Wills Point Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual membership luncheon at the Community Center Oct. 6, confirming dates and details about the upcoming return of several fall favorites: BOO on the Bricks, Christmas on the Bricks, and BRICK$ BUCK$.

BOO on the Bricks

The annual BOO on the Bricks celebration sponsored will return to the brick streets in downtown on Saturday, October 29 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The overall event schedule is set to include the Harvest Health Fair hosted by Alinea Family Hospice Care, trick-or-treat through the entire downtown, a kid’s costume contest, a pet costume contest, the annual Trunk-or-Treat for children, and Kid’s Zone with inflatable rides.

Additionally, vendors will be set up.

Christmas on the Bricks

One of the longtime staples of the local holiday calendar and a recent addition to the list of Wills Point favorites’ have both been scheduled for Dec. 10.

Clear skies and beautiful temperatures were the order of the day for the city of Wills Point Oct. 8 as the Van Zandt County Regional Airport hosted its annual Fly-In event and Cruisin’ on Wheels and Wings Classic Car Show.

VZCRA Airport Manager Pam Pearson stated, “The VZCRA Aviation Advisory Board, Wills Point EDC and City of Wills Point would like to extend their appreciation to all the pilots, car show participants, and spectators who attended the Fly-In last Saturday. However, we would be remiss not to recognize all the groups that assisted with making this event a success.  Whether parking vehicles or directing aircraft, these groups played a vital role in the safety and enjoyment of the day.  They include the Young Marines, Boy Scout Troup #381, Stonepoint Church, and the Canton EAA Chapter 1078.”  

Nationwide, the pandemic of the “killer clowns,” or “clown sightings,” has spread, sparking awareness of danger of lurking clowns in neighborhoods. Clowns have been spotted in various communities across the nation, scaring or intimidating people, sometimes with the intent of committing a violent act.

Early last week, a Grand Saline High School student was arrested Sept. 4 for making terroristic threats against both the Grand Saline and Van ISDs school districts on a social media site.

The male student posted on Instagram, a social media photo application, with the following threat.

“Watch out, imma about to shoot up the grand saline school. Van is next. Killerclown.com”

The student went under the false name of Steve Sholdings, with the Instagram handle of killer­_clown_gshs. The account has since been closed.

Grand Saline ISD posted a statement on Facebook during the pandemonium that surrounded the threat.

Local residents will have plenty of activities and events to keep themselves busy throughout the upcoming months, with the return of several community favorite events looming just over the horizon.

US 80 Hi-Way Sale

The historic US 80 Hi-Way Sale will begin at 8 a.m. daily Oct. 14-16 and should 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.

BOO on the Bricks

The Texas Star Quilters Guild will be presenting their annual Quilt Show, Grandmothers Trunk from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 14 and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Oct. 15.

A drawing for the raffle quilt will be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 15.

Proceeds from the quilt will be distributed among heritable organizations in Van Zandt County, organizers of the event said.

Within the quilt show there will also be vendors, demonstrations, door prizes, quilt guild bazaar, silent auction, and a special scavenger hunt for children under 12.

Admission $3 for adults and children under 12 are free. 

Many books, movies and stories have been told about the struggle our nation has gone through to provide and protect our freedoms and that of other countries. Now, it is your turn.

The Van Zandt County Genealogy and Local History Library is looking for veterans’ stories. from World Wars I and II Vietnam, Cuban Crisis, Haiti, Desert Storm, Iraq, etc.

Maybe you did not serve in a time of crisis but still you have a story and we would like to include it in our records. Maybe you never left the United States or maybe you were on the front lines. You have a story and we would like to place that story in our library for future generations to be able to learn what part you played and what you endured for our freedoms,” Jones said.