News

The Van Zandt County Veterans Memorial held a balloon release in honor of veterans, prisoners of war/missing in action and those currently serving in the military on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4

The annual event attracted people from across the county with funds raised from the balloons purchased benefiting the VZC Veterans Memorial.

Each color of a balloon represented a certain status of military personnel. Red and blue balloons were in honor of veterans or anyone; black in honor of POW/MIA; yellow balloons for those currently serving in the military; and white balloons in honor of those who have retired.

VZC Veterans Memorial committee member Shorty Farmer offered remarks to those in attendance, stating that the balloon release was also in honor of the late Red Montgomery.

Personnel from the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office and VZC Constable Pct. 4 office are headed south to the Port Arthur area to help with rescue, evacuation and search efforts for Hurricane Harvey victims.

A team comprised of VZCSO Chief Michael Bates, Lieutenant Heath Burton, Sgt. David Wheeler, Deputy Chuck Daugherty, Chief Deputy Constable Bob Keltner and Retired US Marshal John Lewandowski left Aug. 30 to “answer the call of assistance with search, rescue and evacuations.”

The officers participating all agreed with Chief Deputy Keltner’s statement, “they came to help us twice, now we are going to help them.”

The team took equipment to help aid in rescue efforts, including a boat and a MRAP military truck and headed down to Port Arthur, which was 100 miles east of Houston.

They also loaded up on supplies such as food, lifejackets, water and essentials needed for those who have lost everything due to the aftereffects of Hurricane Harvey.

The grand showroom and service area of the i20 Dodge dealership was weeks away from opening when the April 29 tornadoes ripped through the dealership destroying inventory, the showroom and an eight-bay service area.

The dealership was a testament to the tornado’s destructive force, with Interstate 20 travelers being able to view the wreckage as they drove by. Twisted and mangled cars littered the ground, with some vehicles swept up into the trees as well. The inventory was gone, steel beams and electrical wires were the only thing left from the grand showroom. It was a complete and devastating loss.

Despite the loss, i20 Dodge General Manager Eddie Wise said that i20 Dodge plans to reopen by Sept. 1, with new inventory and a plan to rebuild.

City of Canton residents and businesses received a letter in the mail the past week from the Canton Police Department and the City of Canton regarding false alarm calls and a fee to be implanted after three false alarm calls were received.

Stemming from the Canton City Council meeting in Aug. 1, Canton Police Chief Brad Allison went before the council asking for a fee schedule to change to help control the number of “false alarm calls.”

A report on the annual outside financial audit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2016, was presented to the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court Aug. 22.

John Manning of the Patillo Brown and Hill L. L. P. audit firm, located in Waco, made the presentation to the commissioners after being introduced by VZC Auditor Freddy Thomas.

“We are here to give you an unmodified opinion on your financial statements,” said Manning. “As outside auditors, we can give you one of four different types of opinions and the unmodified opinion is the highest level of assurance that we can offer.”

Manning delivered good news to the commissioners regarding the work being done in the county auditor’s office.

In a 4-1 vote, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court approved a proposed tax rate for the new fiscal year Aug. 22 that exceeds the preceding year’s rate as well as the effective and rollback tax rates.

The proposed property tax rate for the 2017-‘18 fiscal year which begins Oct. 1, 2017, and concludes Sept. 30, 2018, is $.615847 per $100 valuation which exceeds the rollback rate requiring two public hearings prior to the final adoption of the proposed tax rate.

The first public hearing will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 and the second hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 8. Both public hearings will take place in the VZC Courthouse.

Information released by the commissioners’ court showed that the preceding year’s tax rate was $.58547.

The effective tax rate is .552805 while the rollback tax rate is $.587864, according to the commissioners’ court.

Fall garage sales and upcoming elections mean more signs going up along area roadways. The Texas Department of Transportation reminds the public and election officials that it is illegal to place anything other than official traffic control signs or approved items on the right of way.

Encroachments on state highways and rights of way include any unauthorized structures, vehicles or roadside vendors that could cause damage to the roadway system, increase litter and as frequently occurs, create unsafe or hazardous conditions.

The Van Zandt County Genealogy Society will present the 37th annual Genealogy Seminar Sept. 23 at St. Teresa Catholic Church Fellowship Hall, Canton.

John Sellers will present informational and educational programs. Sellers has been working on the programs and Van Zandt County Genealogy is proud to make this information available to the public,” said Genealogy Society members.

Sellers will present "The Other Court in Texas," a methodology lecture on knowing and accessing records in the District Courts of Texas. The records include, divorce, civil and criminal cases and expert cases. Research procedures will also be discussed.

A small parade of people walked around the Van Zandt County Courthouse square Aug. 16. The group was led by Tommy Phillips and Melisa Rhodes of the Texas A&M Ag Extension Service to kickoff Walk Across Texas, a free 8-week program designed to help Texans establish the habit of regular physical activity. Since 1996, thousands of Texans have participated in the Walk Across Texas event. Walk Across Texas is recognized as the “Best Practice of Physical Fitness Activity Program” by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

For the eight weeks, teams of up to eight people, school classes or individuals virtually walk 832 miles across the state of Texas.

Ethan Landaverde, 27, of Van was killed in a motorcycle crash around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20.

Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers were called to a scene of a two-vehicle accident on Farm-to-Mark 17, in Van Zandt County, four miles northeast of Grand Saline.

According to preliminary crash reports, Joshua Wintters, of Ben Wheeler, was traveling east on FM 17 towing a trailer and attempted to turn right into a private drive when his towed unit was struck from behind by Landaverde, who was driving a 2003 Suzuki motorcycle.

Landaverde was transported to Texas General Hospital in Grand Saline where he was later pronounced deceased.

Wintters was not injured in the crash.