Mountain View
Atlanta Citizens Journal (Cass County)
Spillway
, , The first month of a new year is often a time when one considers the privileges and blessings one has living in Cass County. One advantage is the presence of Lake Wright Patman with its reservoir and dam. The lake has an excellent small visitor’s area called Spillway Park. Here one can come when seeking perspective or a moment to be calm. One simply says, “I’ll go to Spillway Park and sit for awhile.” First of all, getting to the park is not difficult. The drive to the lake is impressive with major highways passing close by. And then, the...
Local crew sees BIG
, , , Many curious observers watched as a crew that looked like ants from passerby-ers assembled the new Atlanta water tower. What most people don’t know is that first, those crawling around hundreds of feet in the area are from right here in Cass County. And second, this same crew has a heritage of building the old water tower only yards away from the new one. And lastly, they are responsible for big projects including building the largest water tower in the world. On November 15 a crew of workers led by Foreman Lonnie Lund who works for the company...
TEXAS WHITETAILS = BIG BUCKS
, , You can keep those topsy- turvy Wall St. stocks. I’d like to have a dime for every dollar spent on Texas whitetailed deer hunting each year. Hunting whitetails is a huge deal around here. And business is apparently pretty good. Big city merchants may not notice the impact deer hunting has on their bottom line, but you can bet the little guys do. Deer hunting is like a golden goose that lays enough eggs to keep some rural economies fed from one year to the next. Just how plump is the financial cash cow? The results from an economic impact survey titled...
Rainy days in Linden City Park are a pleasure
, , , , , Linden City Park with its walking areas and retention pond looks its best during rains. The land is both terraced, filled with hills and crossed by walkways, so that it becomes a pleasure to visit, especially on rainy days. On these days, water flows through the rock-lined ditches which are arched by wooden bridges. Other streams in the park are also rock-lined and carry water quickly off the ground areas. This is the purpose of the drainage ditches, the terraced land and retention pond. The park with its drains is a flood recovery project funded by the General...
Toyota kicks off 2024 campaign Jan.1, all eyes on Lake O.H. Ivie
, Each January, usually about the turn of the New Year, excitement builds among bass anglers who dream of the big bite. The really ambitious ones might ponder thoughts of catching a Legacy Lunker. Legacy Lunkers are the heart and soul of Texas Parks and Wildlife’s Toyota ShareLunker program, a spawning and genetics research campaign aimed at producing bigger and better bass for Texas anglers to catch. The program is built around cooperative anglers willing to loan big Texas-caught bass to the state for selective spawning in hatchery raceways. Legacy Lunkers are special for several reasons. The mega bass are always females....
In September 2023
, Three ex-military men barbecued meat all night long the day before Christmas eve this year. The three were Mike Stuart, Mike Lee and Clifton Trusty. The homemade barbecue pit they’d put together themselves was located at the J. E. Manning American Legion post building. The three had 12 to 13 turkeys and hams to prepare for the Post’s unique Christmas dinner delivery effort now several years old. The Legionnaires were joined by the Trammel’s Trace Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and East Texas Republican Women. The women had prepared and were were ready to deliver Christmas dinners to some...
Traditions
“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” - Gustav Mahler A bazillion magnets form a patchwork quilt on both sides of our refrigerator. Collecting magnets has been an inexpensive way of chronicling our adventures – a tradition we started years ago. Not everyone appreciates this tradition. In fact, there are sophisticates who don’t think well of magnets on a refrigerator. These plain-spoken folks have been overheard using terms like “tacky” and “tasteless.” But in reality, magnets are the lesser evil. Snow globes and/or shot glasses are the real infractions of the law. Prominently displayed at eye level,...
Season of Lights
, , , With the coming of January, the winter season of lights comes to an end. The landscape no longer has its colored holiday lights and so returns to grays, browns and blacks. The entertainment value of driving around to see the lights fades away, but the memories remain. Here are several of the best scenes from the holidays that began with Halloween, continued through Thanksgiving and Christmas and now ends in January. During this time, the windows and yards of several merchants and home owners have been elegant. Government officials have put out as many decorations as they could...
Thistles
“Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you…” Genesis 3:18 A garden is one of the purest and simplest pleasures in life. Ms. Ellie and I have a small, city-slicker-sized garden – a couple of raised beds and a few terra cotta pots arranged here and there, all loaded with herbs. Our herb garden has become a sanctuary that distracts me from life’s business and provides me with a quiet place to ponder life’s pressing problems. It is a place I meet with God. He talks to me as I am weeding, tilling, planting, watering, pruning, harvesting, and (did...
Kerr WMA:
, , Chronic wasting disease (CWD) continues to rear its ugly head across the Texas landscape. To date, several hundred CWD cases have been reported in more than two dozen counties in captive and free-ranging animals including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk and red deer. Add the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Kerr Wildlife Management Area research facility to the lengthening list of properties where the disease has cropped up. For those who might be unaware, CWD is a prion disease that affects the brain, spinal cord and other tissues of farmed and free-ranging deer, elk, and moose, according to the Centers...
Granddaughter of Local Family named 2023 Dallas Prosecutor of the Year
Mrs. Shawnkeedra Houston-Martin, the granddaughter of the late Verbe and Joyce Pruitt Norman of Linden, TX and the late Horace L. (Sr.) and Lurlie Watkins of Hallsville, TX and was named as PROSECUTOR OF THE YEAR FOR 2023, for Dallas County, TX. She has been a prosecutor in Dallas for over 16 years, worked on many high-profile cases and has enjoyed every minute of her tenure there. She was hired by the late Craig Watkins, the first Black District Attorney in the state of Texas. Shawnkeedra attended St. Anthony Catholic School in elementary and middle school and graduated from Lincoln High...
Refuse to Lose
Have you ever watched a sporting event where someone who was overpowered somehow fought their way back to win? Have you ever known someone who wouldn’t give up, give in or quit? Have you ever seen someone defy the odds and get victory when everything was stacked against them? In those occurrences they refused to lose! How many people do you know, Christians even, who feel like they have already lost? They’ve given up. They’ve quit. They’re done. It’s no secret that the devil wants us to fail, fall, give in, quit, walk away, accept defeat, lose. If we submit or give way to the...
Basketball
McLeod’s basketball program met up with county and district foe Linden-Kildare on Dec. 19. Longhorns The varsity boys team ran its record to a clean 19-0 after demolishing the Tigers 66-9. The ’Horns shut out L-K in the first half as they built a 21-0 lead after quarter one and a 37-0 lead at halftime. McLeod went on a 28-9 run to finish off the contest in the second half. Everyone on the roster scored in this game. Grayson Owens had 16 points with seven boards, Colton Spence added 13 points, Kannon Dempsey posted 10 points with eight rebounds, Jaxon Smith and Trey Gant each scored eight points, Kason Cook put up four points, Clay Hartsell three, Jase Deaton two and Austin McGray two. Lady Longhorns The varsity girls’ team battled the Lady Tigers and won the contest 37-26. Kenslee Cross went off for 31 points and nine boards, Lila McKnight and Madison grabbed six rebounds apiece, Gracey Vick pulled down five boards, Emmalyn Owens had two points and Samantha Ramos had two points. J.B. Birmingham had nine points for the Lady Tigers, Roberst added eight, Maggee Winters three, Lynlee LeJeune two, Carley Hays two and Charis Minson two.
Leaving it behind in 2023
A few months ago, I started a series on using the metaphor of pollution. It was in this article I talked about how the Michigan Flint Water catastrophe caused long-term damage that the damage will probably carry on through several generations. In the same way, I compared it to the damage or blessing our tongue could have and encouraged people using scripture in the book of James to use their tongues for good not evil. Now as 2023 closes maybe it is also time to put to bed some of those other things that cause pollution in our life and give...
A Christmas Story
Our relationship was, how shall I say it, wheels within wheels – complex. I first met Sally Sue as a nursing colleague. During the first year of working together, we became friends and within a couple years, she was as good as family. Suffice it to say, the flight of friends to family is a cultural thing we hold dear in the Deep South. Sally Sue was a kindhearted, compassionate nurse. Her ability to connect with others and truly “see” them registered ten on every empathy scale. I marveled at her understanding and comprehension of the human condition, especially those areas...
Judge Ransom looks back at 2023
As we approach the end of 2023, it is appropriate to pause and reflect on what we’ve accomplished and where we are going. Cass County has a rich heritage and a bright future! The year 2023 will soon be part of that history. This year saw several key accomplishments for our county. Cass County participated in the Northeast Texas Regional Alliance where representatives from Northeast Texas traveled to Austin in February to speak with legislators about a myriad of issues during Texas’ 88th Legislative Session. One key issue being proposed is Marvin Nichols Reservoir which Cass County Judge and Commissioners Court formally...
Could a legal decision help save Marvin Nichols?
Earlier this week Texas Conservation Alliance sent a press release informing people that there was a hearing that stopped the build of a potential lake that like this area’s situation would have flooded their area to introduce a large body of water. The TCA has been at the forefront of informing the greater community of Northeast Texas about the dangers of the Marvin Nichols Project. If successful as the Texas Living Waters website puts it, “the project would result in one of the largest reservoirs in Texas, flooding over 72,000 acres of land adjacent to the Sulphur River in rural Northeast...
Let’s Shop
, Christmas is just a few weeks away. Time is waning for holiday shoppers who may still be hunting and fishing for ideas for the perfect present for sportsmen and women on their shopping lists. Buying a gift for a the hook-and-bullet type can be risky business, especially when it involves a novice buying for someone who is really passionate about their game. My best advice to anyone facing this dilemma is to ask lots of questions before you pull the trigger on a gift. Otherwise, you could wind up wasting money on an item that may not see daylight after it...
Faces of Cass County
, , , , Parade faces certainly are unique. They don’t happen often, but when they do, one remembers. Most of the time, when in a crowd, one diverts the eye, doesn’t look at any one. Not at a parade. At a parade, everyone looks directly at one another. “Who is this? Am I going to have to remember a name? If I don’t speak, will they think I’m uppity?” And so one goes to a parade ready to smile. What’s best is when someone has gone to the effort of wearing something attractive or funny. Maybe a blanket too hot or short-sleeves too...
McLeod named‘Blue Ribbon School’
, , , Two leaders of the McLeod public school told students, staff and parents they were about to make history as they tossed confetti high in the air Friday afternoon in the school’s gym. The occasion was that the elementary school’s program had been named a National Blue Ribbon School for 2023, one of 26 in Texas. The superintendent and principal had gone to Washington, D. C., to accept the award for the school. And so, on this school day, students Pre-K through K4 in blue and white school t-shirts, threw blue confetti and received blue cupcakes — all to commend...
Atlanta Citizens Journal (Cass County)
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Atlanta Citizens Journal (Cass County)
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