Shelby County Today

November 8, 2020 - Hurst Street at the intersection of Foster Street in Center was the scene of yet another two-vehicle collision November 8, 2020.

According to Center Police Officer Kevin Sage, at around 2:40pm a white 2010 Dodge Charger driven by Raphael Laredo, 18, of Center  with a 16-year-old minor was traveling northbound on Hurst Street approaching Foster Street.

At that time a red 2005 GMC Canyon pickup truck driven by Georgio Hernandez, 68, of Center exited the Walmart parking lot crossing all four lanes of Hurst Street attempting to reach Foster Street. 

The GMC traveled in front of the Dodge and caused the Dodge to strike the passenger side of the GMC, which then rolled onto its top. The Dodge came to rest in the middle of the outside traffic lane.

The Center Fire Department arrived at the scene and stood by with the pickup truck, which was steadily leaking fuel from an almost full gas tank, until it could be rolled back over onto its wheels.
 
No injuries were reported as a result of the crash and no citations were reported.

According to state crash statistic, this particular intersection has been the scene of 23 crashes since 2015. With this crash it will now be 24. 

Officer Sage was assisted at the scene by officers Angela Neal and John Cleavenger.

November 6, 2020 - After multiple reports of storage buildings being burglarized in the City of Center over a period of several months, Center Police Department Street Crimes Detectives were able to develop a suspect vehicle by security camera footage.

A Bolo Report was put out within the Department in an attempt to locate the vehicle. Officer M. Davidson located the vehicle and made an identification of the driver the first night the Bolo was released.

The following morning Detectives traveled to the residence of the suspected person and was able to identify stolen property at the residence. Several Interviews were conducted for the next couple days and multiple suspects were identified and a large amount of property was located.

This investigation has been lengthy and the individuals responsible are in jail on multiple Felony Offenses.

There were approximately seven different individuals arrested in relation to this case and more warrants are pending. The most important thing is that the stolen property has been returned to the owners and there is still property to be returned.

If you were a victim of a burglary of a storage building in the City recently and you did not report it, please contact the Center Police Department. If you have a storage building and you have not checked on your property lately, please do.

November 4, 2020 - College Street in Center was the scene of a house fire Wednesday, November 4, 2020 around 1:15pm.

When firemen arrived at the scene of the fire, smoke was billowing from within and it was yet to be determined if anyone was inside the house.

As the firemen worked to extinguish the flames they quickly learned the house was a duplex and they then gained access to the front of the house to fight fire from both sides.

No one was within the structure when the fire began and the firemen were able to put out the fire before the entire building became involved.

Update 9:06pm - All boxes are in and 64.83% of the registered voters in Shelby County voiced their opinion at the polls in the 2020 November 3rd General Election. For Shelby County, the voters were definitely more Republican than Democrat representatives.

For local election results, the City of Joaquin voted in three council members - Steve Cockrell, incumbent Frank Cooper, and incumbent Jessie Griffith. To see the election results for Joaquin, they are listed below the General election results.

November 3, 2020 - Finally, election day is here and results are coming in! Not sure what has haunted 2020 more - COVID-19 or the election as both have had polarizing effects for the country.

However, 2020 has brought the voters to the polls in record numbers. Shelby County had 7,000 voters cast their votes early and mail-in! For perspective, in the last presidential election early voter turnout was 4,781 and election day had 5,609 ballots added to the early voters for a total of 10,390. With 1,500 more early voters this year over 2016, it's exciting to see if the total voter turnout on election day will set another record in this crazy year.

Results will be updated as they come in.

Election results are below. (City of Joaquin and City of Tenaha results are located below General Election Results)

Election statistics

Registered Voters (Total) - 15,585
Ballots Cast (Total) - 10,104
Ballots Cast (Early and Mail-in) - 7,000
Ballots Cast (Election Day) - 3,104

Unopposed Candidates Declared Elected

• County Attorney - Gary Rholes (REP)
• Sheriff - Kevin W. Windham (REP)
• County Tax Assessor-Collector - Debora Riley (REP)
• County Commissioner, Precinct No. 1 - Roscoe McSwain (REP)
• County Commissioner, Precinct No. 3 - Stevie Smith (REP)
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 1, Unexpired Term - Donna Hughes (REP)
• Justice of the Peace, Precinct No. 3, Unexpired Term - Melba Rodgers (REP)
• Constable, Precinct No. 1 - Zack Warr (REP)
• Constable, Precinct No. 2 - Jamie Hagler (REP)
• Constable, Precinct No. 3 - Roy Cheatwood (REP)
• Constable, Precinct No. 4 - Taylor Fanguy (REP)
• Constable, Precinct No. 5 - Josh Tipton (REP)

City Election Results

City of Joaquin - 3 Council Positions

• Steve R. Cockrell - 68
• Frank Cooper - 80
• Floyd Blackman - 27
• Sage Davis - 23
• Krystal Sandifer Raybon - 53
• Jessie Griffith - 81

City of Tenaha Tax Rate - “The adoption of a local sales and use tax in the City of Tenaha at the rate of 2%.”

Passes with total of 116 voting 'for' and 53 voting 'against.'

Early Voting (Total Ballots 44)

• For - 38
• Against - 6

Election Day (Total Ballots 125)

• For - 78
• Against - 47