News

Legislation banning sanctuary city policies clears hurdle

Gov. Greg Abbott on Feb. 8 praised the Texas Senate’s approval of legislation to ban sanctuary cities, an item on his priority list for the current legislative session.

Senate Bill 4 by Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, passed after 16 hours of floor debate on a 20-10 party-line vote, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats in opposition.

The Van Zandt County Choir will perform at State Capitol Building Rotunda on Tuesday, March 7, 2017. 

Residents from Van Zandt County are invited to be a part of the choir and sing. Rehearsals are 7 p.m. Mondays at the First Baptist Church Choir loft through Feb. 27 at 303 Athens St., Canton.

The choir leaves at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 7 from the Canton Courthouse Annex parking lot and will return the same day about 8 or 9 p.m. depending on traffic, organizers of the event said.

Sign-up online at www.firstcanton.com/VZChoir.  For more information or questions contact John Bell, Minister of Music & Pastoral Care at 903-567-4157 ext. 107 or email: john@firstcanton.com

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The Canton Police Department

—Responded to a motor vehicle crash, failure to stop and render aid on Shady Lane. According to reports, a driver was leaving his driveway of a residence and backed up and hit another parked car. The driver then left the scene;

—Responded to multiple calls at Jalapeno Tree regarding attempted burglaries of vehicles and damage to vehicles. According to reports, a victim’s purse was stolen and a vehicle had windows with signs of a window punch being used to try to gain access to the vehicle.

—Responded to a criminal mischief call regarding an attempted vehicle burglary at the Canton Village Apartments.

—At Canton Village Apartments, officers responded to a criminal mischief call regarding reports of multiple vehicles being keyed;

 Feb. 12

Jay Horton with and his daughter Payton took part in Kid Fish Day activities at the annual Kid Fish Day Feb. 11.

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Canton ISD Superintendent Jay Tullos shared his personal thoughts and opinions on issues related to public education as the guest speaker at the Feb. 13 meeting of the Van Zandt County TEA Party held at the Canton Church of Christ.

“What I say tonight are my personal opinions and beliefs,” said Tullos. “If I say something you like or dislike, let me know but not the whole school.”

Tullos and his wife, a second grade teacher in Canton ISD, have two children, one is a junior and the other is a sophomore at Canton High School.

Tullos and his family moved to Canton in December 2010.

The Canton ISD superintendent grew up in deep East Texas in Houston County. He described himself as a conservative Christian.

Around the early 1900s, Canton’s Brown & Couch Livery and Feed was a booming business. Couch, far right, is holding the black horse. A livery stable was a place for horse owners to pay a weekly or monthly fee for the upkeep and care of their horses by the stable.

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This article is an excerpt from “Van Zandt County, a Pictorial History,” located at the Library of Genealogy of Local History in Canton. This article spotlights the Hilliard family’s legacy of business and how they propelled business growth in Canton. There were numerous times that the Hilliard family sprouted businesses and shops on Buffalo Street in Canton, with generations upon generations contributing to the legacy of Hilliard businesses in Canton.

“When the General Mercantile store southwest of the square in Canton opened its doors in 1896, G.M. Hilliard Sr., Sid McCauley and Chuck McCauley were partners. One year later, Hilliard bought  the McCauley’s interest in the business. Generations to come, the Hilliard family is still operating in the same location.

Governor raises four issues to emergency status

Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his second biennial “State of the State” address to a joint session of the Texas Legislature on Jan. 31.

In exercising his prerogative as governor, Abbott presented a short list of emergency items for lawmakers to enact during the 85th regular session of the Texas Legislature:

- Improvements to Child Protective Services;

- A ban on sanctuary cities;

- Ethics reforms; and

- Approve a resolution calling for a convention of states.

Abbott said a convention of the states is needed to propose constitutional amendments in order to “fix America” because of a federal government “grown out of control.” It would take a two-thirds majority, or 34 of the 50 state legislatures, to call a convention under Article V of the United States Constitution.

In addition to the emergency items, Abbott called for:

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar recently issued a report examining health care-related spending by 68 state agencies and higher education institutions from fiscal 2011 through 2015.

The report includes an analysis of all state government health care spending and an in-depth look at the five state agencies reporting the largest share of that spending — the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (59.1 percent), the Department of Aging and Disability Services (11 percent), the Department of State Health Services (4.9 percent), the Employees Retirement System (4.4 percent) and the Teacher Retirement System (3.1 percent).

Together, these agencies accounted for 82.5 percent of all state health care spending in fiscal 2015.

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The Texas State Library and Archives Commission released a study showing that Texas public libraries provide $2.628 billion in economic benefits to the state. Collectively, in FY2015, Texas public libraries were found to offer a sizeable return on investment. For every one dollar spent, libraries offered $4.64 worth of services, resources, and economic opportunity to communities.

“The study quantifies what most Texans understand. Our public libraries bring tremendous value,” said TSLAC Director and Librarian Mark Smith. “Libraries function as key engines of economic vitality in their communities.”

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin’s Bureau of Business Research IC2 used a data-intensive process to document and quantify economic benefits. The findings showed that libraries produced $976 million in direct economic activity and more than 11,000 jobs in FY 2015 were dependent on public library expenditures.