The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 1982 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 TMF. GAZETTE CIRtUl.ATlON BY PURCHASE MAY 12, 1928)
^SULPHUR SPRINGS, TEXAS, FRIDAY, JAN. 8,1982. 4 PAGES-15 CENTS PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY
/Cal banks rewrite
history on ledgers \
By JOE WOOSLEY
News-Telegram Staff
Sulphur Springs banks wrote new high
volume marks into Hopkins County history
in 1981 as deposits topped all existing
records. The net gain also broke records
for a single year and amounted to more
than was on deposit tn the local banks as
recently as 1964.
Normally conservative Hopkins County
bankers were pleased with the upward
surge of the financial structure and ex-
pressed optimism about the future as well.
Deposits in the four Sulphur Springs
banks reached 5146,862,722 at the close on
business on Dec. 31, 1981. This was a
whopping gain of 521,189,989 during the
year.
W.W Jones Jr., president of City-
National Bank, summed up his feelings by-
saying: "The economy here is fine. We
have the best spread on price of milk and
feed we’ve every had.
'"If we didn't look at the national pic-
ture,” Jones continued, "we wouldn’t
know the depression was here."
Jones took note of the depressed
automobile sales in recent months and
added an optimistic prediction. "I look for
the car business to be better."
S.T. Garrison, -president of Peoples
National Bank, asked for his views on the
local economy, replied: "I've said this
over and over - we're real fortunate here.
The housing has been depressed, about the
only minus we have here, but I look for
residential building to get going.-"
Rick Palmer, president of First National
Bank, said he had mixed feelings about the
national economy but was optimistic
locally for 1982. "We have overall good
economy here."
Year-end reports showed substantial
gains in assets and loans along with
deposits.
Combined deposits amounted to
5146,862,722, compared to 5125,673,737 a
year ago.
Combined assets went up to 5164,645,735,
compared to 5140,634,337 at the end of 1980.
Combined loans amounted to 577,329,795,
as compared to 567,266,114 a year ago.
Figures for the individual banks are as
follows:
-r——
Sulphur Springs State
The Sulphur Springs State Bank
reported year-end deposits of
565,245,142.95, as compared to
557,548,948.90 at the end of 1980.
Sulphur Springs State assets were
572,189,442.27, compared to 563,357,231,66 a
year ago.
Loans amounted to 535,058:661.21, up
from 531,078,519.32 a year earlier.
City National
, The City National Bank had deposits
totaling 538,181,561.95 on Dec. 31, as
compared to 534,569,439.47 a year earlier.
City National’s assets climbed to
543,516,881.31, as compared to
538,903,303.21 at the end of 1980.
l.oans totaled 519,043,101.80, as com-
pared to 518,196,440.91 as year ago.
Peoples National
The Peoples National Bank announced
year-end deposits of 527,722,290.27, as
compared to 523,945,751.57 at the end of
1980
Peoples National assets totaled
530,610,634.20, a&;//compared to
526,553,046.37 a year earlier.
Loans amounted to 517,110,048.73, as
compared to 513,626,837.71 at the close of
1980.
First National
First National Bank listed deposits at
515,713,729.40 on Dec. 31, as compared to
59,609,597.13 a year ago.
First National assets at the end of the
year amounted to 518,328,778.63, compared
to 511,820,756.16 at the end of 1980.
Loans amounted to 56,117,985.39, com-
pared to 54,364,318.22 a year earlier.
. Combined year-end Sulphur Springs
bank deposits:
1981
5146,862,722.
1980
5125,673,737.
1979
5107,150,451.
1978
597,433,951.
1977
586,042,332.
1976
579,046,672.
1975
■ 570,766,016.
1974
565,521,960.
1973
562,796,799.
1972
554,291,729.
1971
547,259,869.
1970
541,687,048.
1969
536,080,822.
1968
533,876,622.
1967*
529,802,579.
1966
525,196,679.
1965
522,782,351.
1964
518,378,410.
1963
515,066,059.
1962
514,695,733.
1961
514,151,088.
1960
513,302,636. *
Building permits
near $10 million
Sulphur Springs’ strong economy was
reflected in spirited activity in con-
struction during 1981, according to final
figures compiled by Vic Lauer, city
building inspector.
The permitted construction in Sulphur
Springs came fairly close to doubling the
1980 figures.
J^auer’s statistics reveal that 5633,000 in
construction work was permitted in the
City of Sulphur Springs in December. This
boosted the permitted construction to
almost 510,000,000. The exact figure was
59,930,237.
In 1980, total permitted construction
amounted to 55,479,000.
Sixteen single dwellings accounted for*
5455,000 of the December permits, with
another 570,000 listed for duplexes.
The largest single permit of the month
went to Sulphur Springs Grocery Supply,
where another 555,000 project was added to
a massive building program underway.
The permits, with owners, location and
amounts, follow:
Davis Wilson, 108, Kimberly, 535,000.
L.L. and Wayne Cooper, 219 Middle,
525.000.
L.L. and Wayne Cooper, 215 Middle,
525.000.
L.L. and Wayne Cooper, 712 Bird Circle,
525.000.
L.L. and Wayne Cooper, 716 Bird Circle,
525.000.
L.L. and Wayne Cooper, 208 Lilly Circle,
525.000.
, Price Enterprises, 617 Jefferson, 525,000.
Price Enterprises, 554 Craig, 525,000.
Price Enterprises, 900 Camp, 525,000.
Price Enterprises, 904 Camp, 525,000.
Price Enterprises, Weaver Drive,
525.000.
Price Enterprises, 901 Hull, 525,000.
Charles Wilson, 1149 W. Industrial,
520.000.
Gene Watson, 1201 Terry Lane, 550,000.
Gene Watson, 1205 Terry Lane, 540.000.
Davis Wilson, 112 Kimberly, 535,000.
Ernie Hoskinson, 137 Phyllis Center,
535.000.
Ernie Hoskinson, 133 Phyllis Center,
535.000.
Wayne Cooper, 412 W. California, raze
structure, no value.
Jim Dobson, 105 Gladys Alexander
Drive, 510,000.
Jim Dobson, 109- Gladys Alexander
Drive, 510,000.
Charles Carter, 1700 Airport Road,
53.000.
Hollis and Ovetra Williams, 521 Camp,
5500.
Grocery Supply, 130 Hillcrest, 555,000.
Gary L. Tayler, 704 Connally,55,000.
Max Latham, 316 Highland Drive, 54,000.
Sundowner Restaurant, 1-30 East,
510.000.
Mrs. Braddy, 211 Main (sign), 51,000.
Helm’s Best Western (pool), 1-30 East,
514,000.
Scott, gauman file
Former Department of Public Safety
Trooper H.W. (Wayne) Scott and Justite
of the Peace William H. (Bill) Bauman
became the first candidates to officially
file for county office here-‘■Monday mor-
ning.
Scott, 38, ajiative of Delta County who
now lives in the Peerless community, is
seeking the post currently held by County
Judge Joe R. Pogue. Pogue indicated he
would file for re-election later in the day
Monday.
Bauman is seeking re-election - to his
Justice of the Peace Precinct 1 post.
Other incumbents who had filed for re-
election as of noon Monday — the first day
for filing were District Clerk Ola
Beckham, County Treasurer Betty Green
and County Commissioner Arnold
A lsobrooks.
County Clerk Mary Attlesey has an-
nounced her plans to run for re-election,
and was expected to file late Monday or
early Tuesday.
As of noon Monday, the only contested
race which appeared to be confirmed on
the Democratic ballot was that for the
office of county judge.
Scott, a veteran of U.S. Navy service in
Vietnam, has served as a police officer
most of his life, in addition to operating a
beef stocker and cattle farm in Hopkins
County!' ,
He resigned from his Department pf
Public Safety post over the weekend in
order to formally file for the county-
judge’s seat, capping a local law en-
forcement career of more than 10 years.
Scott served with the Sulphur Springs
Police Department from 1970 until 1972,
and was with the local sheriff’s depart-
ment until he resigned that post to attend
DPS school in June of 1972. He has been
with the Department of Public Safety sinee
that year.
The offices of county clerk, county
treasurer, district clerk, county surveyor,
county judge, all four justices of the peace
and county commissioner precincts 2 and 4
are to be filled in this year’s election.
County records 17 violent deaths
Gunshot wounds claimed nine lives in
Hopkins County during 1981 as traffic
accidents took a second place finish in the
violent death toll count, according to
records maintained by The News-
Telegram.
t
Five of the gunshot fatalities were ruled
as self-inflicted. One was ruled an ac-
cident. Two of the gunshot deaths resulted
in charges being filed, while a third in-
volved a scuffle with a Washington, D.C.
man, fatally shot, who resisted arrest from
local police. One of the policemen involved
in the arrest procedure was wounded in the
incident near the intersection of Main and
Davis streets last March.
Two of the six traffic deaths involved
motorcycle riders. One motorcycle rider’s
machine struck a tree. The passenger on
another motorcycle was killed when the
vehicle was in collision with a car. The
other four traffic fatalities were one-
vehicle accidents.*
The county listed one vnibbing death.
Another fatality during tire year was at-
tributed to accidental electrocution.
In comparison to recent years, 1981 was
in-between in low and high violence
marks. There were 21 violent deaths in
Hopkins County in 1980, 25 in 1979, 16 in
1978, 20 in 1977, 25 in 1976, lofin 1975,14 in
1974,26 in 1973, and 20 in 1972.)
New manager sworn in
Travis Owens, right hand raised to take the oath of office, is sworn in Tuesday night
by City Secretary Sandra Beach as the new city manager. He replaces Marshall
Shelton who recently resigned his post. Owens is serving as city manager for the
second time around. He was the interim city manager for several months before
Shelton was selected for the post September l, I960.
Lady of the Year
nomination open
Nominations are now being ac-
cepted for the Lady of the Year award
sponsored by Beta Sigma Phi
sorority. The award will be presented
during the annual Hopkins County
Chamber of Commerce banquet on
Feb. 12.
Virginia Henderson, chairman,
suggests that nominations included
resume of the nominees' activities.
The nominations should be mailed to
P.O. Box 498 or the Chamber of
Commerce office by Friday, Jan. 29.
Past winners of the awards include
Lavonne Randolph in 1976, Pat
Debord in 1977, Eddie Jo Edge in 1978,
Pat Johnson in 1979, and Lynda Hager
in 1980.
Kindergarten
registration set
Registration day for students at-
tending the second semester of the
kindergarten program in the Sulphur
Springs Independent School District
will be Friday, Jan. 15, from 8:30 to
11:30 a.m. at the assigned campus.
The first day of classes will be
Monday, Jan. 18.
If a child has not received an
assignment or if the student has not
made application for enrollment, the
parent should contact Patsy Bolton at
885-8061 or go by the Administration
Building on Connally Street.
Owens takes city reins
Travis Owens was sworn, in as Sulphur
Springs city manager Tuesday night at the
opening of the city commission meeting by
City Secretary Sandra Beach.
The commission also heard several
reports and made decisions on all but one
request presented to the body in the
regularly scheduled meeting.
After Owens took the oath of office,.
Commission Chairman Dee Mabe ex-
pressed his approval of the selection of
Owens for city manager. “He’ll do a
fantastic job for the city,” he said. “It’s
not an e^sy job, there are many long
hours.” He also commented that the city
manager "needs support from the people;
he has the support of the council.”
Fire Marshal C. D. (Jerry) Bolding
appeared to update the council about the
city and county fire protection situation.
“Travis (Owens) and I went over to the
County Comrrfissioners and told them how’
we were going to do it,” Bolding said. “We
are probably going to be able to work it
out," he said.
City Manager Owens told the com-
mission that, he had talked to the county
and "they agreed to pay 51,000 a month.”
Several commissioners spoke of the
importance of the type of communication
and dealing between the city and county. ■
“There is a whole lot to be said for good
relations between the county and city,”
Commissioner Gregg Price said.
/’The county commissioners are bet-
ween a rock and a hard place,” Bolding
said, adding that both city and county
officials are seeking to work out a com-
promise. “I came away from the
meeting," between Owens, Bolding,
County Judge Joe Pogue and the county
commissioners, “feeling the county would
try and upgrade their equipment,” he said.
Marjory Miller appeared before the
commission to appeal the planning and
zoning commission’s denial of her ap-
plication to establish a mobile home park
on Clayton Road and to change the zoning
from part residential II and part heavy
industrial to special us*
Mrs. Joe T! Moore, of 905 Jefferson
spoke in opposition to the proposal saying
“it should not be built near a residential
area,” and saying also “it is an injustice
for the homeowners,” who have purchased
homes to see mobile homes move into the
neighborhood.
The petitioner responded by saying
people cannot afford to purchase new
homes any more and that a new mobile
home now costs as much as a small house.
, People want a nice place to live, she ad-
ded.
“I plmLm0/0iniee mobile home part
and pra^^raVe it kept up," she said.
Dee Mape said that) when the planning
and zoning commission turns down a
request, “I cannot go against them.”
Vaden Richey agreed and said “it is
pretty much the rule to uphold the ruling of
the planning and zoning commision.”
Gregg Price said that the city is growing
and concessions must lye- made by
, everybody. "A majority of people want the
city to grow and they want to eat their cake
too.”
The -commission voted to deny the
request.
luuiiiu appiuvcu ^ . «nMVM. ..
Homer Blevins of 301 Lee to build
automobile repair shop on Route 4, LoO|
301.
Also approved by the commission was i
request by the Market Club at 310 Sprin)
Road and the Satellite, 227 Main Street t<
install pool tables.
In the discussion about pool tables, th<
topic of electronic video games came uj
and Owens said something will be drawr
up by the next commission meeting
“We’re getting a lot of the machines ovei
here and we’re going to have to take £
closer look at it and come up with some
kind of ordinance," Mabe said.
Superintendent of Water Quality Control
Maxie Chester updated the city on the
reactivating of the old waste water
treatment plant. “We had to repair the
fence and gate,” he said. A lock was also
placed on the gate. Work will be able to
continue once electricity is hooked up and
submersible pumps installed to drain out
the tanks. Workmen cannot get to thfe
aerators to check them out. “We have done
all we can do until we get electricity down
there,” he said.
The commission also approved or-
dinance No. 883 which will suspend the
effective date of proposed revisions of the
fuel cost factor tariff schedule of Texas
Power & Light Company for 120 days from
Jan. 13, with the stipulation that the utility
company charges remain unchanged
during the period of suspension.
The commission also accepted and
awarded a bid from Bowles and Edens for
water materials.
Outlook grim for TEC office here
By GENE SHELTON
and
SUSAN McCARY
Staff Writers
The future of, the Sulphur Springs office
of the Texas Employment Commission
appeared anything but bright Wednesday,
even though a final decision on whether or
not the facility will be closed is yet to be
made.
“Unless there is a dramatic change in
our funding prospects, we will have to
close some offices, including the one in
Sulphur Springs,” TEC official Jerry
Biscoe said Wednesday morning.
The local office is one of several
statewide being eyed for shutdown as a
result of budget cuts in the state depart-
ment. Under current plans, Biscoe said,
the Mount Pleasant employment office
will remain open, as will the one at
Greenville.
“We don’t know which office will serve
Hopkins County at this point, if the Sulphur
Springs office is closed,” Biscoe said.
“And while I wish I could be more en-
couraging, at the moment it does look like
we will have to shut the Sulphur Springs
office down at the end of January.”
A final decision has not been made, but
the action is almost a foregone conclusion,
Biscoe told The News-Telegram, “barring
a dramatic reversal of the funding
situation.”
Should the order become official as
expected, the closing of the local TEC
office will have a substantial impact on the
area*
“I don’t think that many people realize
what a gap that the closing of office will
make in terms of overall community
services,” said Jane Vickers, adult
probation officer for the Eighth Judicial
District. “It will certainly make our job
more difficult; but worse, it will make it
harder to keep some probationers gain-
fully employed and their families off
public welfare rolls."
The probation office^ said that one
condition many probationers,must meet is
that they support themselves and their
families if they have a family. “Many have
a transportation problem and going to an
employment office in another town or
going from place to place check out em-
ployment possibilities will be very difficult
if not impossible for them,” Mrs. Vickers
said.”
The probation staff can not fill that need,
she added. “Contacting employers and
getting the information on jobs and the
employer’s requirements takes time.
Interviewing an individual, testing their
aptitudes - spending enough time with
them to find but what they can do - takes
time. Matching job to job-seeker takes
more time, and more time is what we do
net have. We havegthree officers and a
caseload of approximately 350 persons to
keep tabs on. As the area's population
grows, so will our caseloads. ’ ’
Registration for work with the State
Employment Agency is a requirement for
unemployed persons who are able to work
to get Food Stamps. Lucy Vaughn,
Eligibility Worker for the Food Stamp
. Program with the local Department of
Human Resources office, said that they
had no information as to how they were
going to handle this requirement if the
local TEC office is closed. “Right now we
are just registering them (food stamp
applicants) on the state’s computer, and I
guess that an employment office
somewhere will pick them up. We had been
sending the (registration) cards directly to
the local office."
As of now the State Employment Office
is the only employment agency in Hopkins
County. Mrs. Vickers said that a large
company with a personnel department or
funds to pay a private agency can do the
job of recruiting, screening and
evaluating propective employees. “It is
very time consuming for the small em-
ployer to have to advertise, interview and
check out new employees," she said. “If
this community experiences a period of
rapid growth with many new people
coming into the area, the job will be
harder We are used to being familar with
most ofthe faces we see.
1
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Keys, Clarke & Woosley, Joe. The Hopkins County Echo (Sulphur Springs, Tex.), Vol. 107, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, January 8, 1982, newspaper, January 8, 1982; Sulphur Springs, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth780386/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hopkins County Genealogical Society.