The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, April 7, 2000 Page: 1 of 4
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Hopkins County Area Newspapers and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Hopkins County Genealogical Society.
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Absorbed The Gazette Circulation By Purchase On May 12, 1928
VOL 205 — NO. 13
SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS — FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2000
4 PAGES — 25 CENTS — PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
Industrial
prospects
don’t worry
about small
labor force
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
A shrunken labor pool isn’t holding
back employers from investigating
Sulphur Springs and Hopkins County
as a prospective home.
With unemployment at 3.8 percent,
one of the lowest levels of the past 20
years, the labor market may not seem
enticing to a business seeking to
expand. But everything’s relative.
“That does affect any company’s
decision,” said Randy Thomas, exec-
utive director of the Sulphur Springs-
Hopkins County Economic Develop-
ment Corporation. “But it’s statewide.
It’s like that nationwide. Everybody’s
feeling it. I think the difference for us
is that what we lack in quantity we
make up for in quality.”
Thomas, who is nearing his first
anniversary as director of the EDC,
said there are a number of companies
inquiring about Hopkins County loca-
tions despite low unemployment
rates.
That includes a “good, viable
prospect” for the HON building,
which has been vacant since June
after the company announced it
would shut the doors at the local
plant, and a spec building being con-
structed by the EDC.
“The spec building is nearly com-
plete, and we’re working with
prospects on that.” Thomas said. “Of
course, you never know until you’ve
got the door closed behind you.”
At least one local company is plan-
ning an expansion, and Thomas said
there are inquiries for “green fields”
— sites for construction of new build-
ings.
“1 really do think in three to four
weeks we ought to have some good
news to announce,” he added. “Of
course, I hate to say that, because you
never know what will happen. The
hardest part of this job is being
patient.
“We’re a good place of choice, and
we’ve had some very favorable com-
ments regarding our community and
workforce,” Thomas added.
He also sees the potential labor
pool in Hopkins County as larger than
the numbers might indicate. Nearby
cities can supply workers, and the
city’s location on the interstate means
there is a market in people commut-
ing to other areas who might change
jobs.
“You can draw from some of the
other counties, and there are people
driving to Dallas to work who might
want to stay at home,” he said. “We
may be offering them an opportunity
to work closer to where they live.
“It’s kind of a hidden workforce
that we’ve got, but it’s a good one.”
Arrest closes
book on string
of burglaries
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
By the
authors
Students at
Travis Elemen-
tary School got a
special treat
during Tuesday
night’s PTA
meeting. Bill
Martin, left,
along with fel-
low children’s
author Michael
Sampson, read
Martin’s book,
“Chicka Chicka
Boom Boom” as
part of the evening’s program.
m-
Staff Photo By Marla Plruky
Senior Citizens Activity Center
will remain property of city
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
The Senior Citizens Activity Cen-
ter will not fall into the hands of Hop-
kins County officials, after all.
One month after Sulphur Springs
City Council members voted for an
interlocal agreement that would deed
the property on Martin Luther King
Jr. Drive to the county, the council
reversed field and decided to keep the
facility.
Council members voted Tuesday
Sulphur Springs police closed the
books Thursday on a dozen cases
with the final arrest in a series of car
burglaries and vandalism offenses in
the city.
An 18-year-old Como man was
taken into custody Thursday morning
on five counts of burglary of a motor
vehicle and' one criminal mischief
warrant, the fourth and final arrest in
the investigation. Police had already
arrested three juveniles in the investi-
gation.
Rewards were offered in February
after a rash of auto burglaries involv-
ing stolen stereos and damage to
vehicles surfaced. Additional money
was offered for tips to clear up sever-
al cases of vandalism, as well, includ-
ing one incident an officer called the
worst case of criminal mischief to a
vehicle he'd seen in 17 years of
police work
That involved a 1996 Chevrolet
Lumina parked at a local repair shop
The vandals broke every window in
the car, smashed the headlights, caved
in the roof, hood and trunk by jump-
ing up and down on the car, pned off
the molding and threw a battery
through the front windshield.
Found it
Staff Photo By Marla Plnsky
tvit.'i
B
A state trooper found more than 50 pounds of mar-
ijuana in this hidden compartment in the trunk of
a car stopped for a traffic violation Tuesday morn-
ing. The trooper became suspicious after noticing
the trunk appeared to be shallower than normal
for the 1988 Oldsmobile.
More than 50 pounds of pot
found in hidden compartment
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
A hidden compartment and 51
pounds of marijuana added up to jail
for an El Paso man stopped for driv-
ing on the wrong side of the road in
Sulphur Springs Tuesday morning.
Clarence Roberts, 42, remained in
the Hopkins County jail Wednesday
morning on a felony marijuana pos-
session charge after Texas Depart-
ment of Public Safety Trooper Todd
Brackhahn found 41 packages of
pot in the trunk of Roberts’ 1988
Oldsmobile sedan.
Brackhahn said he became suspi-
cious when the trunk simply looked
a little shallower than normal for
that model of vehicle.
“It was pretty intricate stuff, but
we’re trained to observe those kinds
of things,” Brackhahn said. “We
look at cars all day long, and when
we get one that looks a little funny,
it makes it easier to spot."
Brackhahn had just finished with
an unrelated traffic stop on Interstate
30 about 10:15 a m. when he saw
the Oldsmobile exit off of eastbound
1-30 near Helm Lane.
“What drew my attention was that
when he looked up in the mirror and
saw me behind him. he jerked over
to the exit." Brackhahn said.
The trooper reported the car.
instead of crossing into the right-
hand lane of the two-way access
road, stayed in the left lane before
pulling into a gas station.
Roberts told the trooper he had
driven from El Paso to Houston on
a business trip and was on his way
to Texarkana to open a distributor-
ship for a company he was working
for. As evidence, Brackhahn said,
the driver offered a few papers relat-
ing to the trip.
“The papers looked like an inven-
tory list," Brackhahn said. "It didn’t
n.ake sense for him to drive all the
way from El Paso to Houston to
deliver some papers that could have
easily been mailed or faxed, and
when 1 asked him if that was what
he was trying to tell me. he s d.
Well, yeah, I guess that’s what i m
saying.”
The trooper got his first look at
the trunk when he asked for a driv-
er’s license.
Number of dairy operations
continues to decline in county
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
They used to call it the smell of
money, but nowadays the dairy indus-
try in Hopkins County just plain
stinks.
Low milk prices and two years of
drought have not helped the number
of dairies operating in Hopkins Coun-
ty, which has fallen again.
The county ’s total orations were
down to 212 in February, a decline of
8.3 percent from one year ago.
according to statistics compiled by
the federal milk market administra-
tor’s office in Carrollton. One year
ago, there were 241 dairy farms in
Hopkins County, which once had
more than 500 milking operations
Despite the decline in overall
dairies, however, production
remained about the same locally. The
52.1 million pounds of milk market-
ed from Hopkins County was down
only 0.5 percentage points from the
52.3 million pounds of milk in Febru-
ary 1999.
The decline in Hopkins County
mirrors the overall trend in Texas. In
the past 12 months, the number of
dairies in Texas fell by 8.4 percent,
from 1.245 to 1.140
Production, however, actually rose
in the state for the month of February
Total output for the month was 512.5
million pounds, compared to 486>mi I -
lion pounds in February 1999.
From 1996 through 1999. Hopkins
County’s dairy industry has taken a
big fall. Production dropped by more
than 26 percent in that time, from 766
million pounds in 1996 to 562.7 mil-
lion in 1999 The number of dairy
farms operating in the county dropped
Rural News: 4
Club News: 2
night to approve a motion by Coun-
cilwoman Bernice Fitzgerald to reject
the interlocal agreement and supply
new furniture, hire personnel to direct
activities for older citizens, and still
allow the Meal-A-Day program to
operate at the location.
Fitzgerald's motion also included a
stipulation to end rental of the facili
ty for private functions.
She said her intention was to make
the Senior Citizens Center work as it
was intended and to do "whatever it
takes to get it running like it should
for our senior citizens."
The council voted Tuesday, March
7, to deed the Senior Citizens Activi-
ty Center to Hopkins County, which
in turn planned to set up a board to
oversee use of the facility and return
its primary use to older citizens.
Council members Tuesday night
also suggested setting up an advisory
board to guide operations at the cen-
City chooses
location for
new terminal
By BRUCE ALSOBROOK
Sulphur Springs City Council
members voted Tuesday to locate a
new terminal at the municipal airport
closer to State Highway 19 than the
existing facility, despite the protests
of the airport manager.
The site, referred to as "Alternate
Location 5" in the master plan being
developed to guide development at
the airport in the future, will make the
facility more visible to the public and
ties into plans for using the airport for
economic development.
City Finance Director Peter
Karstens presented the proposal to the
council during a regular meeting
Tuesday night. He explained that
planned expansion at the airport by an
existing business made the location
preferable, and that the site would tie
into a 50-acre tract of land recently
purchased by the Sulphur Springs-
Hopkins County Economic Develop-
ment Corporation on the south side of
the airport for industrial development.
One obstacle. Karstens acknowl-
edged, is the lack of a concrete apron
in front of the proposed terminal loca-
tion, which is being built with the aid
of a Texas Department of Transporta-
tion grant. But he added TxDoT rep-
resentatives have included the apron
in the grant "programming" for the
project and have also given their
approval to the site.
Estimated cost of the apron would
be around $3(X).(XX). with about 90
percent coming from the state grant.
The area would also be serv ed by a
new fueling station for the airport,
with above-ground storage tanks,
which Karstens said will be an
inevitable replacement for the exist-
ing underground storage tanks He
also said a 24-hour credit card sys-
tem. w hich would allow more sales of
fuel, would be installed at that time.
The city's Airport Advisory Board
recommended the site (or the new ter
minal, but support for the location has
not been unanimous
"There is a dissenting side, and I'd
like to present it." said Dick Caldw ell,
manager of the airport.
Caldwell said the firm hired to con-
sult planners on the master plan orig-
inally suggested locating the new ter-
minal next to the existing facility, but
that option mysteriously changed
"At the next meeting, that was tak
en off the table completely," Caldwell
said.
He also asserted the fuel tanks
underground are either fiberglass or
fiberglass-lined and are "not going to
leak anytime soon."
He also said the the new site would
not be as efficient as the current loca-
tion of the terminal, noting the new
site would be at the other end of the
runway from where airplanes normal-
ly take off.
"They would have to taxi the full , y
length of the runway to take off,” he
said.
He also said a dozen corporate or
commercial hangers could be built in
the area proposed by the advisory
board, generating more revenue for
the facility.
"We’ve got a location that abso-
lutely disregards operational efficien-
cy,” he said. “It’s going to cost tax-
payers $300.(XX) to $500,000 just so
the guy driving down [State High-
way] 19 can see it.”
But Roger Elliott, chairman of the
Airport Advisory Board, said for a
non-growth airport, locating the ter-
minal next to the existing facility
would be fine.
"1 agree with Dick — that's the
place I'd put it if this airport had no
future." he said “But we re talking
about growth, we’re talking about
new businesses."
Councilman Larry Vnllmann. who
said he had received numerous calls
about the plan, said he had been
asked if Elliott had a personal interest
in the location of the terminal
"1 have a personal interest in this
master plan, because I’m the adviso-
rs board chairman," Elliott respond-
ed "The w hole plan is no good if we
put the terminal in the wrong place."
Willmann said he liked the location
proposed by the advisory board, but
also noted the downside to the loca-
tion w as no guarantee of funding.
"What would happen if the grant
[for the apron] doesn't come
through0" asked Councilwoman Ber-
nice Fitzgerald
35 percent drop over the three-year
period, as well.
The decline slowed some in the
early part of 1999. when prices
climbed to record levels, but just as
quickly the amount paid to producers
for their milk fell, dropping $6 in one
month.
Prices are still depressed The Basic
Formula Price, used as a basis for set-
ting payments to dairy farmers, fell to
an all-time low in January , dropping
to $9.63 per hundred pounds of milk
That was $7.71 less than in January
of 1998. or a decrease of more than
44 percent.
The Class 111 price, which is simi
lar to the old Basic Formula Price,
was set at $9.54 in February and
remained unchanged when the price
was updated March 31.
SttfPtwto By Marta Ptn»Ky
New cheerleaders
The new Sulphur Springs High School xarsity cheerleaders gathered
Friday morning for an organizational meeting. Pictured from the left
are (hack) Brandi Bell; Walls the Wildcat Mandi Wells; Morgan
Peufch, Christie Cross; Jennifer McMahan; Kallie Odom; Deven
W'rigley; (iron!) Ashley Steed; Candace (loggans; Nikki Adams;
Katie Barnett; and Jessica Scroggins.
Reunions: 3
f
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Keys, Scott & Lamb, Bill. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 205, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, April 7, 2000, newspaper, April 7, 2000; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth780332/m1/1/?q=music: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.