The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 45, Ed. 1 Friday, November 7, 1986 Page: 1 of 4
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(ABSORBED THE GAZETTE CIRCULATION BY PURCHASE MAY 12, 1928)
IO. 45.
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 1986.
4 PAGES -25 CENTS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
/
Two dead, one injured
An Indiana trucker and his mother were killed and his wife
was seriously injured in an accident involving two semi
tractor-trailer rigs at 6:26 a.m. Wednesday on eastbound
Interstate 30, just east of the FM 900 overpass, according to
OPS reports. Rescue personnel worked for more than an
hour to free Sandy Heppner of Warsaw, Ind. She was taken
to Hopkins County Memorial Hospital and then transferred
by helicopter to a Tyler hospital. Her husband, Larry
Heppner, 32, of Warsaw, Ind., and his mother, Lillian
Heppner, 58, of Bay City, Mich., were pronounced dead at
the scene, according to DPS reports. The driver of the other
truck, Floyd Loving of Little Rock, Ark., was not reported
injured.
—Staff Photo by Ann McAdams
Clements, Bassham, Patterson
among Hopkins County winners
By MICHAEL,PELRINE
The vote spread in the governor’s
race in Hopkins County was a little
tighter than the statewide results, but
the verdict was the same: a
Kepublican governor was selected
despite overwhelming support for the
Democratic candidates in all other
races, including the two contested
local races.
The unofficial statewide results for
governor showed Bill Clements
winning w ithi&2.69 percent, compared
to 46.10 percent for Mark White.
In Hopkins County, Clements
received 3,415 votes, or 50.95 percent,
while White received 3,246 votes, or
48.43 percent. Libertarian Theresa
Doyle netted 42 votes for 0.63 percent,
and two write-in candidates were
listed — Charles l,ee and J Muriel —
but no votes were listed for either.
Tuesday's gubernatorial election
was a radical departure from 1982
when the same two candidates faced
off against each other. In that race,
White won a convincing victory both
statewide and in Hopkins County.
The races for Hopkins County
Sheriff and District 1 state
representative were not even close.
Incumbent Sheriff Mark Bassham
took 82.60 percent of the vote versus
Tom Ham’s 17.40 percent. At age 25,
Bassham is the youngest sheriff in
the state and the youngest ever
elected in Hopkins County. In ad-
dition, speculation is high that
Bassham is the youngest sheriff ever
elected in the history of the state of
Texas.
Democratic County Chairman
Lowell Cable announced-at about 9
p.m. that Bassham appeared the
winner in the sheriff's race.
Bassham expressed his pleasure at
the support indicated by those who
joined him at the Civic Center to
await the election results.
He thanked the county Com-
missioners Court-for appointing him
as sheriff last summer after the death
of Sheriff C.W. Grayson and
acknowledged the support of the
Democratic Party and his family in
the campaign.
'One of the promises that I will
make is to do the best job and the
most honest job that I can,” Bassham
said.
Ham told The News-Telegram
Wednesday morning that a lot of
factors contributed to his defeat, not
the least of which was he was an
outsider running against a hometown
eandylate. _________________
**fireally haven't assessed what
happened yet, except to say that the
people of Hopkins County were not
• yet willing to elect a sheriff from the
Republican Party,” he said.
Ham said he was not certain if he
would run for sheriff again.
The vote in Hopkins County for
state representative showed in-
cumbent L.P. ’Pete'' Patterson with
69.42 percent, or 4,437 votes, com-
pared to Republican challenger Steve
Phillips with 30.38 percent, or 1,935
votes. District-wide results in this
race were not available by presstime.
"We did something that hasn't been
done before in this district," Phillips
told The News-Telegram Wednesday
morning. I think we made, a sub-
stantial showing.”
"We're not giving up on this. We’re
m for the long haul,” Phillips added,
"and we’ll be back again, possibly for
the same office.”
Phillips said he had the best results
m those areas where he was able to
get out and meet people to explain his
position on the issues.
Harve Chapman is new chamber executive
I
Harve Chapman, a Sulphur Springs
native and long-time Dallas
marketing executive, has been
selected as the new executive vice
president for the Hopkins County
Chamber of Commerce, according to
chamber Board of Directors
President Ike Harper, who made the
announcement Wednesday following
a called board meeting.
Chapman, who will officially
assume duties Nov. 17, will fill the
position vacated by Ed Phelps who
resigned to accept a similar position,
with the Corsicana Chamber of
Commerce Sept. 1. Phelps had been .
with the local chamber since 1980.
“Harve was the unanimous choice
of the Search Committee following a
three-month long ^process of
screening applications, conducting
interviews, and checking on the
candidates' business references,"
Harper said. “I would like to publicly
recognize the committee for their
diligent and conscientous work.
"Believe me, our recommendation
to the board was not made until we
had thoroughly interviewed and
scrutinized the credentials of the six
finalists which occupied the full
month of October,” Harper added.
Chapman, 57, currently operates a
marketing consultant and executive
search firm out of Dallas and Mineola
and is ay 1946 graduate of Sulphur
SpringsyHigh School. He received a
bachelor of journalism degree from
the University of Texas at Austin in
1951 and earned 18 hours credit
toward ’ an MBA at Southern
Methodist University.
“Harve Chapman brings to the
Hopkins County Chamber of Com-
merce an impressive background of
35 years as a successful businessman
in the private sector plus many years
of dedicated involvement in a variety
of civic and community activities,”
Harper said, adding, "He is a proven
manager and administrator. And he
is accustomed to working with and
being accountable to a diverse
constituency such as our Chamber of
Commerce membership." ,
The Search Committee included
Harper, G.V. Hughes, Vera
Harrington, Jim Holland, Malcolm*']
Kirkland, Jesse Orr, Gene Watson
and Don Worsham.
Chapman and his w ife, Ping, have
two married daughters, Mrs. Pat
McDaniel of Coppell and Mrs. David
Pickens of Tyler. His father, the late
Harvey Chapman Sr., was a Hopkins
County deputy sheriff in the 1930s. His
mother, Mrs Mabel Chapman, died
in March 1986, in Sulphur Springs
1-30 truck
collision
kills two
By ANN McADAMS
News Telegram Staff
the right lane of traffic. Witnesses
said the Heppner truck moved into
the left lane of traffic and then back
into the right lane. The Heppner rig
Two family members are dead and then struck the rear of the Loving rig
another is in critical condition in a causing the trailer of the 1986 Freight
Liner to buckle and split, Estes said.
The impact knocked Heppner’s cab
off of the trailer and the cab became
airborne, plunging into the ditch and
trapping all three occupants inside,
Estes said.
Ambulance personnel and mem-
bers of the Hopkins County Rescue
Unit responded to the accident which
occurred at 6:26 a.m. They spent
more than an hour freeing the
trapped occupants. A wrecker was
used to help lift the crushed metal as
ambulance personnel remained in
constant communication with the
survivor, according to reports.
Once freed, Sandy Heppner was
transported by ambulance to Hopkins
County Memorial Hospital where she
loaded onto the helicopter and
transferred to the Tyler hospital,
Tyler hospital following an accident
early Wednesday on Interstate 30
involving two semi tractor-trailer
rigs, according to Department of
Public Safety Trooper Darrell Estes.
Sandy Heppner of Warsaw, Ind., a
passenger in a 1984 International
semi tractor-trailer rig, remains in
critical, but stable condition in
Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler
where she was transferred by
helicopter following the accident,
according to a hospital
spokeswoman.
Her husband, Larry Heppner, 32,
also of Warsaw, Ind., driver of the
1984 International semi-rig, was
pronounced dead at the scene by
Justice of the Peace Bill Bauman.
Also pronounced dead at the scene
was Larry’s mother, Lillian Heppner,
58, of Bay City, Mich, who was a according to reports,
passenger in her son's rig, according The accident is still under in-
to Trooper Estes. yjjstigation by Trooper Estes,
Floyd Loving of Little Rock, Ark., Trooper Harlan Patterson and Sgt.
the driver of a 1986 Freight Liner Jack Allen.
tractor-trailer rig, #as not reported
injured, according to DPS reports.
According to Estes, the Loving
tractor-trailer rig was parked on the
shoulder of Interstate, east of the FM
900 overpass near Saltillo, in the
eastbound lane with emergency
flashers activated at the time of the
accident. The Heppner tractor-trailer
rig was eastbound on Interstate 30 in
Funeral arrangements for the
mother and son are pending at the
Murray-Orwosky Funeral Home.
The two deaths Wednesday were
the 11th and 12th traffic fatalities of
1986 in Hopkins County.
Among the other accidental deaths
for the year are one drowning, one
accidental shooting and one farm
accident.
Patterson could not be reached for
comment
Hopkins County voters favored
Democrats in all of the statewide
races by at least 60 percent, and
voted overwhelmingly in favor of all
four amendments to the state Con-
stitution.
Local ASCS
win award
The employees of the local
Agriculture Stabilization and Con-
servation Service have received a
state award for their efforts in
publicizing the ASUS duties.
Jerry Epting, executive director,
said the office received the honor for
its newsletter that goes out to farm
operators and owners in the county!
The office staff also presents in-
formation at schools, civic group
meetings and to the media.
The award was presented at
College Station at the United States
Department of Agriculture awards
banquet.
Council abandons
ordinance on
home occupations
Harve Chapman
Some apparent confusion on the
part of citizens over the intent of an
ordinance defining home occupations
and the ordinance’s apparent conflict
with the city's electrical ordinance
prompted the city council to abandon
it Tuesday night.
After hearing from numerous
citizens who spoke on both sides of the
issue. Councilriien Ronald Lummus
and Margin I^itham pointed out that
a contradiction exists between the
electrical ordinance — the en-
forcement of which by the _city
electrical board ^precipitated “the
debate over h6me occupations — and
the accessory use section of the city’s
zoning ordinance, but the city staff
still needs guidelines to determine if a
business operated out of the home
qualifies as a home occupation.
Rickey Payne, of Payne Electric,
and a former member of the elec-
trical board told the council, "This
issue was brought up according to the
electrical ordinance, butJt has turned
180 degrees. How it got\witched to
talking about home occupations is
beyond me.”
A section of the electrical or-
dinance dealing with licensing of
electrical CQntractors stipulates that
an electrical contractor must have an
established place of business that
conforms to the zoning ordinance of
the city.
Earlier this year, the electrical
board thereby required an applicant,
Michael Hudson, to set up shop in a
building in a commercially zoned
district.
Hudson appeared to the City-
Council which referred the matter to
the Planning and Zoning Com-
mission.
Councilman Bill McCool, at
previous City Council and Planning
and Zoning meetings, made the
contention that since electrical
contractors have been working out of
their homes for a long time in Sulphur
Springs and since the section of the
electrical ordinance dealing with
electrical contractors made
referen# to the zonihg ordinance, the
zoning ordinance was flawed and
needed rewording.
The result of that effort to reword
the section in the zoning ordinance
was the ordinance turned down by the
council Tuesday night.
Councilman Norman Bedford drew
applause from the audience when he
said, "I am concerned that there is
too much legislation already. We
already have a law on the books that
works just fine."
Mayor J.O. Walker said, "It seems
that the people here believe the city is
trying to keep people from running a
business in their home. But that is not
the intent of this ordinance at all.”
After voting unanimously against
the ordinance, the council agreed to
set up a meeting with the Planning
and Zoning Commission and the
elecrical board to work out any
contradictions between existing
ordinances.
In other business, the council ap-
proved a preliminary plat for Oak
Valley Subdivision located south of
Melony Drive submitted by Joe
Ardis, and it approved a special use
permit to allow- the property of the old
Hi-Vue Drive-in to be used for a
mobile home repair and refurbishing
business.
Local man's
death ruled
accidental
The death of a man who died in an
electrical incident has been ruled an
accident, Hopkins County Sheriff
Mark Bassham said Friday.
Jack Cordell Counts, 42, of Sulphur
Springs was pronounced dead at 2 25
p.m. Oct. 24 by Justice of the Peace
William Bauman after he was
electrocuted at a Hopkins County-
dairy farm, the sheriff said.
P
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Keys, Clarke & Hillsamer, Dave. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 111, No. 45, Ed. 1 Friday, November 7, 1986, newspaper, November 7, 1986; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth776761/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.