As hard as it may be to believe after the seemingly endless run of elections at the local, state and national levels in 2016, voters will once again have a chance to make their voices heard in the coming months with school board and city council elections May 6. Election filing for both the city and school began Jan. 18, and will run through Feb. 17. School Board There are two positions open on the Canton ISD Board of Trustees which includes Position 6 held by Josh Wilkerson and Position 7 held by Regan Sumner. Anyone interested in running for school board may obtain a packet at the Canton ISD Administration Office, 1045 S. Buffalo St., Canton.
Alcoholic beverages hit the shelves of Brookshires in Canton Jan. 17. The store was filled with representatives from companies that stocked the shelves with beer and wine. Customers were seen buying the beverages as soon as they were made available.
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After a lengthy debate between Senator Bob Hall’s District Representative Destin Sensky, the Canton city council voted unanimously for a resolution to oppose State Senate Bill 2. Senate Bill 2 will be considered by the Texas Legislature during legislative session this year and will lower the cap for cities raising an ad valorem tax from 8 percent to 4 percent. If cities increase the tax rate over 4 percent, an election would be necessary. In fact, keeping the existing tax rate would trigger an election. The tax rate has been the same since 2006. Councilmembers remarked that if Senate Bill 2 was in affect last year, Canton would have to had an election to keep its existing tax rate of 0.420332. The maximum rate that Canton could have adopted would be 0.41390492 and the city would have lost $20,000 in maintenance and operations revenue.
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The East Texas Gem & Mineral Society will hold the 21st annual jewelry, rock, mineral and fossil show at the Tyler Rose Garden Center Jan. 27, 28, and 29. Visitors will be able to see club member’s display cases, demonstrations, and dealer’s booths supplying a variety of jewelry, jewelry making, lapidary and earth science related products. Mineral specimens, dinosaur bone, and meteorites are also favored attractions. “There will also be the famous rock food table and geode cracking demonstrations held. There are hourly door prizes, plus adult and children’s grand prizes,” organizers of the event said.
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Struggling with a lack of housing inventory, the Canton market proved to be a challenging one for buyers in 2016. With few houses and strong demand, competition for available housing was strong, and price increases frequent. “December was pretty active for Canton and year-over-year price increases were stunning,” said James Martin, president of the MetroTex Association of REALTORS. “Sales volume and price increases overall were right in line with the rest of the region, even with the jump sales last month.” To read the full article, subscribe to the Canton Herald or pick up a copy from one of our vendors.
East Oak Street Church of Christ, 508 East Oak Street, Edgewood, will have a community clothing give away of all sizes of men’s, ladies and children’s clothes and shoes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Jan. 28,. The clothing giv away is free and is for those in need.
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Texas Legislature convenes in 85th regular session
Lawmakers gathered at the state Capitol in their respective houses on Jan. 10, opening day for the 85th regular session of the Texas Legislature. The 140-day session will conclude on May 29. After taking the oath of office and being sworn in, the Texas House of Representatives, on a vote of 150-0, unanimously re-elected Rep. Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, to a fifth term as speaker of the House, tying a record for the most terms as speaker. Meanwhile, after being sworn in, the Texas Senate voted unanimously in favor of Sen. Kel Seliger, R-Amarillo, as speaker pro tempore. Seliger will wield the Senate gavel in the absence or temporary disability of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the 31-member body. Should the governor and lieutenant governor be temporarily unavailable, he will serve as governor in their absence.
The Van Zandt County Genealogical Society had a great year in 2016. The monthly meetings were well-attended and excellent programs were presented at each meeting. The Society held an all-day seminar and a beginner’s workshop during the year. New board members have been elected and will be installed at the January meeting. New officers are President, Carrie Woolverton; First Vice President, Sandra Jones; Second Vice President, Beth Gordon; Recording Secretary, Sylvia Barbee; Treasurer, Scott Fitzgerald; Corresponding Secretary, Ellen Wheeler; Publicity, Sherrie Archer; Quarterly Editor, Laurie McDonald; Webmaster, Jan Crow; Directors At Large, Tom Tyler and Shirley Fuller. The officers will be installed at the meeting, Jan. 28 by Lou Ann Everett.
WASHINGTON—Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement after voting for the FY 2017 Budget Resolution that will enable the repeal of Obamacare through budget reconciliation: “Today’s vote marks the most important step to date in the process to once and for all repeal Obamacare and to provide patient-centered health care reform in its place. “Under President Obama’s ‘signature accomplishment’ premiums and deductibles have soared, patient choice has dwindled, and insurance markets have begun to collapse. Despite promises that people who wanted to keep their insurance plan and doctor could do so, many Americans have lost one or even both. Beyond Obamacare’s impact on their health care, hardworking Americans who were already struggling to make ends meet had their hours cut at work because their employer couldn’t afford Obamacare’s onerous taxes and penalties.
Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar released the state’s Biennial Revenue Estimate Jan. 9, showing the state is projected to have approximately $104.9 billion in revenue available for general-purpose spending during the 2018-19 biennium. This represents a 2.7 percent decrease from the amounts available for the 2016-17 biennium. It’s important to note that this decline is not due to a projected drop in total revenue collections from the 2016-17 biennium to the 2018-19 biennium. The Comptroller is projecting overall revenue growth from the current biennium to the next. Such growth, however, is offset by a significantly lower beginning balance of $1.5 billion. In addition, a 2015 voter-approved constitutional provision (Proposition 7) dedicates up to $5 billion in biennial sales tax revenue to the State Highway Fund (SHF) starting in the 2018-19 biennium to address important transportation infrastructure needs.
