November 2021

Two donation checks of $500 each from citizens on VZCR 3119 in Van Zandt County Pct. #3 were accepted by the VZC Commissioners Court during its regular meeting Oct.

As part of the I-20 Texas Corridor Study, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is requesting public input through an online survey. The survey asks respondents to weigh in on their transportation priorities for I-20, their points of interest along the corridor, and issues or opportunities that should be addressed.

Two arrests have been made by the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office in connection with two different animal cruelty cases after the SPCA of Texas filed criminal charges against the individuals involved.

The first annual Van Zandt County Republican Club Banquet was a huge success from every standpoint. Unfortunately, keynote speaker Lt.

Our friend, David, is a rancher who has handled and sold thousands of cattle through the years. One particular part of the job of raising cattle is roundup time in the fall. All those animals have to be gathered up so new babies can be branded, the unhealthy treated, older cows can be separated out to be sold or recreated as steaks, and the whole crowd counted and accounted.

Earlier this month, James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, and otherwise known as William Shatner, ventured where few have gone before — into outerspace. Not in his official capacity as a senior Star Fleet officer, mind you, but as a civilian just like you and me. Shatner made the suborbital flight atop a Blue Origin rocket at the invite of that company’s owner, Jeff Bezos (purportedly the richest person on the planet). And Shatner’s reactions to the adventure were much as mine would be, I’m sure: initially, terror at the thought that the rocket (fed up with the ups and downs of space flight) might decide to commit suicide by exploding, followed by the giddiness of gamboling about in the space capsule weightless as a feather, then amazed at the view of Mother Earth laid out below him. But finally, awestruck; awed at how thin and vulnerable Earth’s biosphere truly is. The only known life-sustaining biosphere in the whole of the universe.

Baby Saige Adley Hooten passed away on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021.

Maria Alicia Lopez Vargas, 74, of Wills Point, Texas, passed away on Thursday, Oct. 28, 2021, in Sunnyvale.

Janet K. Pitman Starbuck, 50, Euless, left this world to be with our Heavenly Father on Oct. 16, 2021. Janet’s pride was in her work and grandchildren. The simplest pleasures in life brought joy to Janet. She loved the outdoors, the Dallas Cowboys and sitting on her porch grilling. Her personality was contagious to everyone she met. She will be dearly missed.

Rosa Delia Solorzano Amaya passed away Oct 27, 2021, in Tyler. She was born June 4, 1935, in Chinameca, El Salvador. She was preceded in death by her parents, Rafael Fuentes Martinez and Roxana Amaya Zelaya. Services for Rosa Delia Solorzano Amaya, 86, of Grand Saline, were held at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, at Main Street Baptist Church, with the Rev. Jose Amaya, Pastor Tobias Palma, Jonathan Campbell, and Pastor Brandon Gray officiating, under the direction of Bartley Funeral Home.