July 2021

As temperatures rise this summer, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is urging the public to take extra safety precautions to avoid some common heat-related dangers, especially for vulnerable populations like children and the elderly.

More than 15-million pints of blood are transfused in this country each year. That exceeds 40-thousand pints daily. Hospitals in north, central and east Texas are using only a fraction of that amount, but Carter BloodCare still requests 1,000 volunteer blood donors each day to keep pace with local hospital demands.

July 10: Impromptu fly-in featuring President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1955 Aero Commander L-26B airplane.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said state sales tax revenue totaled $3.16 billion in June, 18.1 percent more than in June 2020. Year-overyear increases for most tax revenues this month were affected by base effects: Year-ago revenue collections to which this year’s collections are compared were severely suppressed by the pandemic. Compared to June 2019, sales tax collections were up 10.4 percent.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released spring 2021 State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) results. The results include exams in mathematics and reading for grades 3–8, 4th & 7th grade writing, 5th and 8th grade science, 8th grade social studies, and high school end-ofcourse (EOC) exams in Algebra I, English I, English II, Biology, and U.S. History.

In response to the growing complexity of local sales and use tax collection and reporting, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced today that his agency updated its Sales Tax Rate Locator services to help sellers determine their tax responsibility at the time of sale.

Arrests: Gabriel Rodriguez, 42, Mesquite, driving while license suspended/invalid Nikedrick Deon Daniels, 27, Terrell, violation of bond/protective order, possession of a controlled substance (PG 2) more than one gram and less than four grams Thomas Hayes Pickens, 28, Terrell, expired inspection sticker, no drivers license, failure to maintain financial responsibility, speeding 11-20, no registration, public intoxication Everett Lee Stephens, Sr., 60, Terrell, failure to maintain financial responsibility, disregard traffic control device, expired vehicle registration William P.T. Woodcock, 52, Forney, driving while intoxicated BAC >=0.15 Kathey Jnell Cavin, 40, Wills Point, driving while intoxicated BAC >=0.15 Michael Anthony Ford, 63, Terrell, speeding 0-10, no drivers license, expired vehicle registration, failure to maintain financial responsibility Sheldrick Deon Gray, 45, Balch Springs, failure to maintain financial responsibility Eddie Dean Williams, 52, Terrell, assault by contact/family violence Latoya Shevette English, 38, Terrell, public intoxication, simple assault, theft under $100/shoplifting, no drivers license, failure to maintain financial responsibility, driving while license is suspended/invalid, wrong/fictitious/altered/obscured license plate, failed to report change of address/name, disorderly conduct/breach of peace Alberto Marcelino, 46, Dallas, driving while intoxicated Ramon Ramos, 34, Terrell, failure to maintain financial responsibility, inoperative motor vehicle, accumulation of debris, parking in a residential yard Joshua Michael Rorie, 29, Terrell, failure to maintain financial responsibility, assault/causing bodily injury to a family member Curtis Eugene Smith, Jr., 55, Terrell, driving while license is suspended/invalid, no liability insurance Justin Eugene Duckworth, 35, Kaufman, assault by contact/family violence Ronald Wayne Shumaker II, 38, Dallas, burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony, possession of a controlled substance (PG 2) more than four grams and less than 400 grams, speeding greater than 10 percent above the posted limit, no insurance, speeding, failure to appear Kazeem O.

My dad was born in 1921, in Panola County, Texas. He was the youngest of nine children, born into a sharecropper family. He grew up chopping, hoeing, and picking cotton. His dad died when he was 15 and as one of the few left at home, he took care of and helped provide for his mother. In 1942 he was invited by his Uncle Sam to see the world, and after his basic training spent until 1946 in the Pacific Theater where he learned to climb poles and string wire as a member of Company C, 99th Signal Battalion.

Sunny skies, limited cloud cover and light breezes served as the perfect backdrop last week as Terrell Chamber of Commerce/CVB rolled out the red carpet to host its annual Free and the Brave Blowout event July 4.