News

Full name:  Brenda Sue Caperton Nix.  
I have lived in: Hughes Springs all my life--- except for two years I lived in Tyler while attending Tyler Junior College.  
Family: My husband, Mike; children, Melissa and Robbie;  daughter and son-in-law, Maegan and Bradley; and the best and smartest grandchildren in the world, Cooper Caperton Nix, Lundy Cate Nix and Ella Beth Edge.  
Pets: One chocolate lab, Lizzie, and one yellow lab, Annie.
Occupation:  I have worked in the adoption unit for Child Protective Services for 12 years.  
One of the best things about my job is: I get to see children find their forever families.  There were 275 children adopted last year in our region.  
My ideal vacation is:  Going to Las Vegas with Mike.  

10 YEARS AGO
Morris County Sheriff Ricky Blackburn announces he will take over the reins as commander of the Ark-La-Tex Narcotics Task Force.
Gatsby’s Pizza celebrates its opening at 120 E. First St. in Hughes Springs with Rocky Wright owner.
The Student Union won first place at the Avinger High School Scarecrow Contest.
20 YEARS AGO
The Morris Country-wide Bicycle Rodeo was held Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Morris County Courthouse Annex.
The Cass County Genealogical Society will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9, at the Atlanta Public Library to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
30 YEARS AGO
Tomorrow is the American Cancer Society’s 1983 Great American Smokeout. It is set aside to encourage smokers to give up their cigarettes for just one day.
Morris County Commissioners agreed to the deputizing of four reserve deputies in the Morris County Sheriff’s Department during a routine meeting Tuesday.

Veteran’s Display
A new and special Veteran’s Day Display will be at the Hughes Springs Area Public Library during library hours from Nov. 12 through 25.  This display will incorporate military items from the collection of Dr. Norman (Cheetah) and Deborah Traylor.  Dr. and Mrs. Traylor graduated from Hughes Springs High School. He is the son of former Postmaster Billy and Betty Traylor and she is the daughter of Mr.  and Mrs. Haskell Young, former owners of Young’s Grocery.  Stop in at the library to see this unique collection of memorabilia including a Nazi flag along with a picture of the Nazi officer who surrendered it.

Celebration
Williams Chapel Baptist Church in Naples will host a celebration at 10 a.m. on Nov. 16 with special guest speaker Patricia Mitchell. Everyone is welcome.  

Celebrate this year’s holiday season with friends and loved ones while supporting conservation and tree planting with the help of the Arbor Day Foundation.
Returning for the fifth season in a row, Give-A-Tree cards from the Arbor Day Foundation offer a unique holiday giving opportunity with conservation benefits that will endure for generations. For the first time this year, Give-A-Tree cards can be purchased individually and with customized text.
Purchasing the Arbor Day Foundation’s specialty coffee helps preserve rain forests in Central and South America. The Foundation’s Specialty Coffee is shade-grown under the canopy of Latin American rain forests. Unlike sun-grown coffee plantations, this traditional shade-grown method gives the coffee a rich and delicious flavor, while preventing the destruction of forestland.

During the 83rd Legislative Session, the Texas Retired Teachers Association (TRTA) and active teacher groups worked together with legislators to pass Senate Bill 1458. The “TRS Actuarial Soundness Bill,” as it has been termed, makes the Teacher Retirement System (TRS) pension fund actuarially sound for the first time in many years.
The TRS pension fund has a value of $117 billion and provides retirement security for over 300,000 Texas public education retirees and nearly 1,000,000 active school personnel. The fund must meet the state requirement of “actuarial soundness” in order for current retirees to receive a permanent cost-of-living raise, which hasn’t occurred since 2001.
With the passing of SB 1458, the TRS fund is now financially sound and is able to provide a 3 percent ad-hoc COLA to over 200,000 current retirees.  The raise will go into effect in the fall of 2013.

Winners in the adult category of the Northeast Texas Community College’s 26th Annual Scare Affair Halloween carnival on Oct. 19 included Brandon Sarmientos of Mount Pleasant (native American), who won second place; and John Sarmientos, Krislyn Pierce (pirates) and Kyri Sarmientos (parrot) of Mount Pleasant who won first place.

Northeast Texas Community College held its 26th Annual Scare Affair Halloween carnival on Oct. 19. Top picks from the costume contest, from left, are “Minions” Jason Roman and Cristian Contreras of Talco who won first place in the children’s category.  Mat Potter of Mount Pleasant (Sponge Bob) and Truen and Gavin Foster of Mount Pleasant (lion and tiger) tied for second place.

The maintenance staff at Northeast Texas Community College has been busy this semester as a series of water system breakdowns plague the college. Since mid-August, the main campus has been forced to go without water five times due to leaks in its aging water system. Outages have varied from a few hours to more than half a day.
On the morning of fall in-service (the one day when all college faculty/staff gather to prepare for the new school year) a major water system break took out the entire campus, leaving the college without running water, working restrooms, and cafeteria services. Administrators altered schedules and provided employees with transportation to restroom facilities at the NTCC Agriculture Complex across the highway, which are on separate water/sewage systems. Other shorter outages since have left employees and students scrambling for off-campus restrooms during work and class hours.
 

Josh Stewart presents Anna Ingram, left, and Jennifer Myers with fruit and vegetable gift baskets for being named Northeast Texas Community College’s Fittest Employees of the Month for October. To receive this award, an employee must be caught practicing overt wellness behavior and attitude.

The regular meeting of the Martha Laird Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was called to order by Regent Mavis Brush, on Sept. 30, at St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Mount Pleasant.  The opening ritual was led by Regent Mavis Brush, the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Lynda Gibson, the American’s Creed was led by Helen Hampton, the National Anthem was led by Frances Beck and Mary Jane Cannon, the Preamble to the Constitution was led by Jean Hooker and the pledge to the Texas Flag was led by Jana Dougherty.
Ms. Brush welcomed members and guests.  The president general’s message was presented by Ms. Brush and the National Defense Report was given by Ms. Gibson.