News

Mayo Kasling, Jr. has stepped down as president at First National Bank of Hughes Springs. Bill Lindsey has been promoted to the position of president. Kasling, Jr., or Bubba, as he is known in the community will remain in the position of Chief Executive Officer. The Kasling family has long been a part of First National Bank, with the family being the majority shareholders. Kasling, Jr. first became president in 1985. “The Kasling family will remain as majority shareholders, and Bubba will remain as CEO and a member of the board,” said Lindsey, adding “There will be no visible change to our customers.” Lindsey was previously Senior Vice President, and noted that Robert Ellison will become General Manager of the Hughes Springs office. Lindsey was hired in 1997, by Kasling, Jr., as a teller at the Liberty City branch. His wife, Ginnifer, is employed at Hughes Springs Elementary School as a kindergarten teacher.

Daingerfield Junior High School has been chosen by the Texas Education Agency to take part in a best practices case studies project. On Jan. 12, Commissioner of Education Mike Morath announced that seven campuses had been chosen by the TEA to take part in the project. Each of the seven campuses had been designated by TEA as a High Performing and High Progress Title I Reward School. “The success taking place at each one of these schools represents the very best in Texas public education,” said Commissioner Morath. “Each year, we spotlight that success to assist other school districts in achieving similar positive results.” Through the combined efforts of DJHS faculty and staff, the junior high administration, and Curriculum Coordinator, Martha Campbell, DJHS has gone from good to outstanding according to Rhymes. All the staff at the school are on board with Rhymes’ principle of replace negative behaviors with positive behaviors.

Firefighters with the Daingerfield Fire Department will have a new tool at their disposal when working fires or accidents where children are involved. Thanks to a donation of stuffed animals, firefighters will hopefully be able to make those situations less traumatic for the children involved. Laurel Wynn, an Outreach Team Leader from First Baptist Church in Daingerfield, led the project with a purpose bringing a little comfort to children in difficult circumstances. With the help of Pastor Don Ross and Harry Campbell, Wynn collected numerous stuffed animals of various sizes, and donated three large...

To continue reading this article, purchase the January 21st edition of the Steel Country Bee, or go to our online e-edition at: http://www.etypeservices.com/Daingerfield%20BeeID312/default.aspx

The Hughes Springs School Board met on Jan. 14, for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. The board began by recognized numerous student groups who had recently competed well in various competitions. The groups recognized the State-Bound Wildlife team and Majorettes, as well as Band Solo and Ensemble students, Junior High One Act Play, and Junior High and Elementary UIL competitors. Board president commended all the students who were recognized, especially those in UIL Academic competitions, saying, “The increased participation in UIL Academic events has been amazing.” Following the student recognitions, Bill Lindsey, Van Hall, Brandon Golden, Robyn Shelton, Rick Nelson, Clint Morgan, and Billy Willis were recognized for their hard work as the HSISD School Board in honor of School Board Recognition Month. Each board member received gifts from each HSISD campus.

The Walmart Express pilot program will come to an end, following a decision by Walmart to close 269 stores worldwide, including 102 of the smallest format stores, according to a company statement on Jan. 15. 154 locations across the United States will be closed, including three local Neighborhood Market stores. The company made the decision following a review of Oct. 2015 review, which took into account a number of factors, including financial performance and strategic alignment with longterm plans. “Actively managing our portfolio of assets is essential to maintaining a healthy business,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Closing stores is never an easy decision, but it is necessary to keep the company strong and positioned for the future. It’s important to remember that we’ll open well more than 300 stores around the world next year.

Students from Daingerfield
Junior High competed at
the District UIL Academic
meet in Queen City on Dec.
10, 2015. The school finished
in third place overall,
behind Queen City (first)
and Mount Vernon (second).
Students and coaches
were recognized at the
Daingerfield-Lone Star ISD
school board meeting in
December.
There were twelve events
in which DJH students
competed, and the students
performed well in all of
them. Along with many
high individual finishers,
the school had numerous
teams place in the events, as
well. The event results are as
follows.
Judy Pilgrim coached the
Art teams, and eighth
grader Jamie Nix finished in
second place. The seventh
grade team of Laura Carter,
Kaleigh Phillips, and Sonny
Wu placed first overall.
Individually, Carter placed
second, Phillips, third, and

The following indictments were handed down by the Fifth Judicial District in Cass County on Dec. 12, 2015.

1st Grade

All A’s Aidan Perez and Elora Stephens

AB Jordyn Dowell, Jaylen Hatten, Tina Pendleton, and Tyriek Rabb

2nd Grade

All A’s Ta’Zion Frazier, Zamarion Frazier, Marley Hollis, and Megan Vance

AB Kolton Nguyen, Keelee Stephens, and Jaxon Woods

3rd Grade

All A’s Eve Perez

AB Kourtlyn Dowell, Haylee Downs, Charlene Kress, Nathaniel Manning, Sophia Orndorff, Christopher Reynolds, Chelsea Smith, Hope Stephens, and Kaidan Whelchel

4th Grade

All A’s Natalie Sanchez

AB Andrea McDaniel-White, Kylee McGregor, Zachary Vance, Shelby Whelchel, and Noah Young

5th Grade

All A’s Taygen Downs

AB Samantha Chandler and Korin Onishia

6th Grade

All A’s Elijah Young

AB Jacob Burleson, Colin Hautmann, and Jason Kress

7th Grade

AB Jazmyn Webb

8th Grade

All A’s Christopher Carr

AB Jayden Bickler, and Victoria Haydel 1

0th Grade

Lane Garland, previously store director at Brookshire’s in Pittsburg, was recently named store director at Brookshire’s in Daingerfield. Garland began his career with Brookshire Grocery Co. in 1993 in the management training program. The following year he was named assistant store manager and served in that capacity for several years in various company stores throughout Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana. In 1999 he was promoted to store director in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and transferred to Brookshire’s in Pittsburg in 2003. “I’m excited about leading the wonderful group of employee partners at this store as we provide great customer service,” Garland said. “Daingerfield is a great community and I look forward to getting to know the people and shoppers here,” he added.

The Super Bowl is America’s most watched national sporting event. On Super Bowl 50 Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, there will be lots of game day socializing that may include drinking. That’s why the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service Watch UR BAC program is urging football fans to call the play now: Drinking OR driving. If you plan on drinking on Super Bowl Sunday, designate a sober driver to get you home safely. Drunk driving is completely preventable with a little planning. We want fans to remember that it’s a choice — drink or drive, but never do both. “Law enforcement agencies will be out in large numbers to stop anyone who makes the dangerous decision to drive impaired” says Cass County Sherriff Larry Rowe. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, 1,041 people were killed in drunk-driving crashes in 2014, accounting for 29 percent of the total motor vehicle traffic fatalities in Texas. Super Bowl Sunday is a risky day for drunk-driving crashes.