News

State Highway 198 between Malakoff at its intersection with State Highway 31 and the Henderson-Kaufman county line in Mabank was officially marked in May as a Memorial Highway dedicated to Henderson County Deputy Sheriffs Tony Ogburn and Paul Habelt, who were killed May 17, 2007, in Payne Springs while responding to a domestic violence call. The bill making the designation possible was authored by State Rep. Keith Bell and sponsored by state Sen. Robert Nichols. Photos by Russell Slaton

The SPCA of Texas and the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s Office served a search and seizure warrant at a property in Van Zandt County, before removing 14 animals from the property June 10. The animals included five dogs, five koi fish, two cats, one macaw and one deceased cockatoo. The SPCA of Texas has closed all adoption locations for at least the next two weeks out of an abundance of caution due to exposure of canine distemper virus. Recently, many shelters in North Texas have been facing similar outbreaks.

June 18: Wills Point’s annual Juneteenth celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with a parade making its way down from the intersection of O’Neal and S. Fourth St. towards South Park. Once the parade has concluded, a party will be held in the park with free food, games and fellowship for the community.

Van Freedom Boom celebration set for Saturday, June 25 The City of Van recently released plans for their sixth annual Independence Day celebration known as Van Freedom Boom. Activities will take place from 5-10 p.m.

As I was finishing up cataloging a stack of books, I looked at Mr. Rogers and told him that it feels like we have been doing nothing other than this since January. That got me to thinking, so I started doing some number crunching. In the first 165 days of this year, we have added 657 new books/materials to the library’s collection. When you break it downs it means we have added almost four items a day. Since we are not open every day of the week, it can be broken down even further. We have been open 89 days in 2022 and we have on average added seven items a day to our collection. That a big number for a library of our size. Last year, in 2021, we added a total of 583 books to our collection so already having 657 as of this year is a very good thing.

Photos by Amandi Goldman.

At the conclusion of the regular monthly meeting of the Van City Council June 9, former Van Mayor Pro Tem Amanda Davis announced her resignation from the city council, effective immediately. “I am moving out of the city limits of Van,” said Davis to those in attendance.

The Grand Saline Salt Festival was held Saturday, June 11, in downtown Grand Saline. The event featured a long parade, games such as horseshoes, corn hole, a car show and more. The Morton Salt Girls and Boys were dressed in period costume to represent every decade in the history of Morton Salt and waved to the crowds as they went by. The event was packed with people enjoying the annual festival. Photo by Amandi Goldman

Van Area Chamber of Commerce President Pat Valentine provided updates on upcoming chamber related activities June 7 during the chamber’s quarterly luncheon held downtown at The Movie House. Valentine recognized the newest members of the chamber which included Zach Pruitt, State Farm Insurance; Cole Wagley, Fire Pit creator; and Terry Miller, Miller Homes Group.

During the Grand Saline City Council meeting held June 14, the council approved the retirement and sale of the city’s K9 Officer Figo. According to Figo’s handler, Officer Foster, K9 Figo has a medical issue that caused blindness.