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December 22, 2014 (Photos by J.J. Ford) - A two-vehicle crash sent three people to hospital Sunday, December 21, 2014.
First responders were dispatched to the scene of the crash inside the Center city limits on Louisiana Street (State Highway 7 East) to see to the injured and provide traffic control.
According to Center Police Sgt. Duane Gordon who investigated the crash, at 4:10pm a light blue Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by Douglas Williams, 25, of Converse, LA, with passenger Anthony Hemphill was traveling east in the outside lane on Louisiana Street.
As the Silverado entered the intersection with Railroad Avenue, a black Chevrolet Impala driven by Francesca Jenkins, 23, of Center with a 17-year-old passenger and 46-year-old passenger was traveling south on Railroad Avenue and failed to yield right of way to the Silverado as it entered the intersection causing the vehicles to collide.
The Impala was spun around and faced west and the truck continued off the roadway to the right and into a ditch where it came to a stop.
Williams and Hemphill were transported by ACE EMS to San Augustine Memorial Hospital and Jenkins was transported to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital by ACE EMS. Jenkins passengers were not reported to have been injured.
Jenkins was cited for failed to yield right of way leaving a stop sign, no driver's license in possession, no proof of insurance in possession.
Assisting at the scene of the crash were the Center Fire Department, Texas Department of Public Safety and Shelby County Sheriff's Department.
December 22, 2014 - An open house for emergency personnel was held on Friday, December 19, 2014 at Nacogdoches Medical Center's new Center Emergency Department's emergency and diagnostic imaging facility.
Representatives from several entities including the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Game Wardens, Center Fire Department, Shelby County Probation Office, ACE EMS, Shelby County Sheriff's Department, Center Police Department, Timpson Volunteer Fire Department, West Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department and Life-Air Rescue took the tour.
Tammy Hanson, the manager of the facility, and Don Radcliff, RN BSN, escorted the representatives through the new facility and introduced them to the different areas of the building.
"This is a fully functioning, freestanding emergency room," said Hanson. She went on to explain there is no difference between the ER and one that is in a hospital, "the difference in the big hospital is what happens after the ER."
Hanson spoke with the officers about such things as legal blood draws and the facility employees look forward to working with them. She said if there are any issues, she has an open door policy toward the emergency personnel.
When the visitors entered, Hanson explained where each side of entrance takes them. The left side is for emergencies and the right side is the diagnostic and imaging center which will be open Monday through Friday. This side will provide CT scan, ultrasound, x-rays, and lab work.
The facility is well staffed and Hanson described how some of the registered nurse schedules, "By daytime this building will be staffed by five RN's and one nurse technician that is an EMT basic. At nighttime it drops one staff member and me I''l drop off, so it will actually have four RN's and one EMT basic. So, we've worked really, really hard to be very adequately staffed," said Hanson.
Hanson told the visitors the hospital is staffed by experienced medical professionals, "The nurses here are very experienced, there is not a brand new nurse in this building, there is not a brand new ER nurse in this building so we can help you. We can help you with anything you need."
The facility is located on Loop 500 in Center and once the facility is open calls to the facility may be directed to 936-657-3030.
Hanson (blue scrubs) speaking with Shelby County Sheriff's Department, Game Wardens, and Shelby County Probation
December 19, 2014 - Emergency personnel was dispatched to a single-vehicle crash located at 7996 State Highway 7 West on Thursday, December 18, 2014 after a truck rolled into a highway sign and flag pole before coming to rest in a yard.
West Shelby County Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to the scene along with the Shelby County Sheriff's Department Deputy Adam Renfro, Investigator John Pope, and Investigator Chris King.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) State Trooper John Hallenbeck, at 6pm a 2003 white Toyota Tundra extended cab pickup truck driven by Martin Santana, 46, of Center was eastbound on State Highway 7 West when he left the roadway to the right traveling 150 feet. After traveling off the right side of the roadway, Santana over corrected left and traveled across all lanes of traffic as the vehicle turned and began facing west as it skidded through the yard before rolling and ejecting Santana.
ACE EMS transported Santana to Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital with incapacitating injuries. Santana was cited for unsafe speed. As of Friday morning Santana was released from the hospital.
DPS Trooper Hallenbeck was also assisted at the scene by DPS Trooper Brent Murray.
December 19, 2014 - Nacogdoches Medical Center (NMC) announced the doors to the Center Emergency Department will be open to the public starting at 8am, Monday, December 22, 2014 which is 528 days since the closure of Shelby Regional Medical Center (SRMC).
SRMC closed its doors at noon on Thursday, July 11, 2013 by orders of Dr. Tariq Mahmood, the owner. Just over a week later Nacogdoches Medical Center announced July 19, 2013 its intentions to build a free standing ER and Imaging Center in Shelby County at the intersection of Hwy. 96 and Loop 500.
Thursday, December 18, 2014 invited guests attended a press conference and meet and greet in front of the new emergency and imaging center. Clay Ferrell, the Operating Officer at Nacogdoches Medical Center, said, "Welcome everyone to the Center Emergency Department" and recognized several people for their support and assistance over the past year. Those recognized included Pam Phelps, Executive Director of the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce; Rick Campbell, Shelby County Judge; David Chadwick, Mayor of the City of Center; Chad Nehring, Manager of the City of Center and then members of Nacogdoches Medical Center Governing Board who were present at the event.
Francis Spruiell, Nacogdoches Medical Center Governing Board Chairman and a Shelby County resident, took to the podium saying, "I cannot think of a better Christmas gift for this community than this facility right here." She thanked the staff and management at Nacogdoches Medical Center in Nacogdoches and at the new facility in Center. Spruiell finished saying, "My only wish is that the staff here treats the clients, the patients, with the kindness we do in Medical Center in Nacogdoches. So, Merry Christmas everyone and congratulations."
Clay Ferrell spoke again saying, "Where do I begin; we've had a great journey over the last year and a half. The construction effort has lasted for 11 months. I stood here, I think in January or February, and said our goal was to open this facility by the end of the year. We have a lot of work left to do, it's going to be a long weekend, but this facility will open Monday morning at 8 o'clock on the 22nd." Ferrell continued, "Everything is going to be ready for patient care beginning Monday, morning, so we are very excited about that."
Ferrell then expounded on partnerships the new facility will have with other emergency care providers, "We have very important and key partnerships to make this emergency center operate." Ferrell then listed the emergency partnerships to be with ACE EMS out of Center, Flight for Life out of Tyler, PHI from Lufkin, and Life Air Rescue from Shreveport.
"We also have relationships with a company called EmCare who is the group affiliated with our physicians that will man the emergency room on a 24 hour basis beginning Monday morning," explained Ferrell. EmCare is a leading emergency department staffing and management provider and has more than 750 practices serving nearly 600 hospitals, hospital systems and other healthcare facilities nationwide.
"The most important relationship, obviously over the last 12 months has been with (J.E.) Kingham Construction," mentioned Ferrell. He continued expressing appreciation of Kingham saying, "It is very, very uncommon for a contractor to allow his customer in six weeks before he turns it over. And we have been stepping all over Daniel (Garcia, onsite supervisor,) and his crew so that we would be able to begin operations just a few days after we receive our certificate of occupancy. But it was important to us and I know it was important to the community to be open as quickly a possible. And I commend Kingham for a very good job, well done."
As a final report of the Center Emergency Department, Ferrell described, "In the final analysis we have hired more than 40 employees for this facility from laboratory all the way to imaging, nursing, patient access registration, security, pharmacy, and house keeping. We have invested about 4 million dollars in the land acquisition and the construction of the building and over 3 million dollars in technology, equipment, and furnishings. We have strewn 5 miles of data cable through this building. We have 28 computers, 5 laboratory machines, 4 imaging modalities, and 200 pieces of medical equipment. We are expecting to see anywhere from 15 to 20 patients a day in our emergency room to begin with which translates to 5,000 to 8,000 in a year. And on the imaging side, anywhere from 20 to 30 exams per day. We are anxious to see how the reality shakes up with what we've estimated. We feel very confident that this is going to be a very well used facility."
As a final announcement, Clay Ferrell introduced the manager of the new facility to be Tammy Hanson, "Tammy lives in Timpson with her husband (Mike Hanson) and two kids. She is an LVN by training and also an RN since 1999, certified in basic life support and advance cardiac life support. She has a strong background in emergency nursing. She was a trauma nursing instructor and pediatric emergency nurse instructor. For a long time she has been the trauma coordinator at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital. So you can imagine it was very exciting for us to be able to recruit Tammy to be our onsite manager here and I know its going to be exciting for her to run this operation."
Hanson expressed her appreciation for her new position, "I would like to first extend a thank you for allowing us to serve Shelby County. This is going to be a great endeavor and we welcome you on the journey with us." Hanson continued, "I'm home. I'm a native Shelby Countian and I have not been employed in Shelby County for over 20 years and it feels great to be back."
Hanson then had the employees of the hospital stand and introduce themselves saying, "I want you to meet the faces of those who are going to make this building successful and great to serve Shelby County."
Following the announcements, all attending were invited to tour the new facility and to meet with staff and visit with them about the new facility and its equipment.
December 18, 2014 - Lynda K. Russell was honored Thursday, December 18, 2014 in the court room of District Judge Charles R. Mitchell with the 2014 Most Pro Bono Cases Litigated Award by Dana G. Bias, Private Attorney Involvement Coordinator with Lone Star Legal Aid. Also attending the awards presentation was District Judge Charles "Brick" Dickerson; Russell's husband, Phil Hennigan; her 94 year old mother, Edrie Parsons and her sister-in-law Mary Ann Parsons.
Bias said, "This is the first time that Lone Star Legal Aid has honored a Shelby County Attorney for Pro Bono service and its only fitting that Lynda should get that award. She has volunteered through our program since she opened her private practice in 2012 and she has consistently gone above and beyond the call of duty. She has over twenty years of helping East Texans with their legal issues and she has selflessly devoted her time and expertise with Lone Star Legal Aid Pro Bono Program by providing legal help to several low income individuals who could not afford to hire an attorney."
Bias spoke about Russell's saying, "She has done more pro bono cases in the relatively short period of time that she has been with us than any volunteer that I know of."
January 9, 2015 - If you have medical records at the old Shelby Regional Medical Center (SRMC) that need to be picked up the hours of operation are Monday and Tuesday from 10am until 6pm starting January 12th.
The location to pickup records has been changed to Dr. Hookers old office at the front of the hospital. There also are a large quantity of records from Dr. McMullen's office stored at this location at this time which do contain a lot of children's shot records amongst other records.
March 13, 2015 will be the absolute last day for records to be picked up. All records not claimed will be shredded.
A letter is not necessary to acquire your records, they can now be looked up at the facility by name through a computer system. Personnel records are also available from 2008 - 2013.
December 17, 2014 - To mark the completion of work on Martin Luther King (MLK) Drive, the City of Center held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, December 17, 2014 at the intersection of Hicks Street. As everyone gathering for the ceremony, Mayor David Chadwick welcomed everyone and shared his appreciation for the completion and gave some history of the project.
"We are so pleased that we were able to complete this section so far, and I say this section, the whole thing is done and we were able to do it with grant money which is marvelous and it does not impact our local citizens," stated Chadwick.
He continued commenting there is still work to be done, "The sidewalks on the side of the street, you'll notice entrances that look like they're leading to someplace and it leads to dirt, that's the next step that we want to address and that's our sidewalks."
Chadwick remarked on what has been accomplished with the street improvements on Martin Luther King Drive, "We've accomplished two major things for Center at this particular time with this project and I want us to be very much aware and very grateful for it. One is the fact we were able to complete this street with concrete and this has always been a very damp street with a lot of springs, natural springs and whatnot that have caused deterioration, so we were able to complete that into a concrete street and we got rid of the railroad tracks."
"We are very appreciative of work that is being done, we are very grateful that it is now this far along, and we look forward to continuing to do things for our community," said Chadwick.
December 16, 2014 - It’s time for you to get the credit —capital credits, that is— for helping build, sustain, and grow your local electric cooperative. When you signed up to receive electric service from Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative you became a member of the co-op. An electric cooperative operates on an at-cost basis by annually “allocating” to each member, based on how much electricity you purchased during a year, operating revenue remaining at the end of the year. Each year as financial condition permits, these allocated amounts—capital credits—are retired. Since a cooperative’s members are also the people the co-op serves, capital credits reflect each member’s ownership in, and contribution of capital to, the cooperative.
This year, members of Deep East Texas EC will receive capital credit retirements through a check in the mail, reflecting a portion of their contribution to the ownership of the cooperative. Those funds helped us keep the lid on rates, reduced the amount of money we needed to borrow from outside lenders to build, maintain, and expand a reliable electric distribution system, and covered emergency expenses – now it’s time to return the credit back to you! Over the years, Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative has returned over $20 million to our members and local communities through the retirement of capital credits.
Remember, a member may be eligible for capital credits for several years after they move off our system. If you move, please be sure that we have an accurate forwarding address. Also, if you are an heir of one of our past members, please be sure that we have the proper information to forward the deceased member's future capital credit checks to the heirs. Should you have any questions, please call Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative at 936-229-4000 or 1-866-392-2547.
Deep East Texas Electric Cooperative is a non-profit electricity provider serving 8 counties in Deep East Texas: San Augustine, Shelby, Sabine, Panola, Nacogdoches, Rusk, Jasper and Newton.
Photo: Members of the McNeill family are seen with Carolyn Hooker (holding Microphone) during the dedication of McNeill Park in Tenaha. The family members include (from left) Larry McNeill, Dave McNeill, Dawn McNeill, Tracy McNeill Pullen,Tara McNeill, and Rose McNeill.
December 15, 2014 - The Tenaha Beautification and Events Committee hosted a dedication of the new McNeill Park on Thursday, December 11, 2014. Community members gathered for the event just off the square and to visit with Santa.
Carolyn Hooker opened the dedication of the park by publicly thanking Larry McNeill and the McNeill family for the land. Hooker then related some history of the McNeill family.
Dave McNeill Sr. lived from 1885 to 1958, he purchased his drug store building in 1914 from Robert Spivey after graduating in 1912 with a pharmacy degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and opened the McCreary and McNeill Drug Store with Archie McCreary. In 1924 the pharmacy became McNeill Brown when Happy Brown became a partner and they remained in business until 1950 followed by McNeill and Son in 1955.
McNeill was elected to the board of aldermen, now called the city council, and remained in that capacity until 1927 when he was elected mayor of Tenaha. He was re-elected for each following term until his retirement in 1944.
During McNeill's tenure as mayor, Tenaha began its public water system in 1941, "This was a giant step for our community that previously had no indoor plumbing," said Hooker. "Mayor McNeill was also very proud of a creation of a city park inside the city of the town square. At its high point in the 1940s it had trees and lawn, benches and street lights and was heavily used by farmers and their families who came into town each weekend filling the square with so many people the sidewalks in front of the store buildings were full."
Hooker remarked on the appropriateness of there now being the McNeill Park. She then continued to share some McNeill family history. "Dave McNeill Jr. lived from 1916 until 1998 and unlike his father he did not live his entire life in Tenaha, but considered it his home, "He would tell you, as a child he spent as much time with his father in the drug store building or roaming the town square as he did at their residence and he became well acquainted with the merchants and businessmen of the town," said Hooker.
Dave McNeill Jr. graduated from Tenaha High School in 1933 and went on to earn a law degree from the University of Texas school of law. He held the position of Tenaha ISD Superintendent until 1942 when he became Shelby County Attorney. He resigned from his six year law partnership with W.I. Davis Sr. in Center in 1952 and moved to Houston with his family to join the law firm Vinson, Elkins, Weans and Francis where he practiced law until his full retirement in 1986.
It was rare for Dave McNeill Jr. to not be in Tenaha from 1952 and into the 1990s during each month with his wife Lois, the daughter of Dr. J.M. and Anna Baldwin Parker, and their two sons Dave and Larry. Dave McNeill Jr. was often called upon by his father and other town leaders to provide legal counsel, "Like his father he cared deeply about the town and its citizens," said Hooker.
Hooker then introduced members of the McNeill family and presented them before those present. The family members included Larry McNeill, Dave McNeill, Dawn McNeill, Tracy McNeill Pullen,Tara McNeill, and Rose McNeill.
The park is located just next door to the family drug store which was recently restored. Several items have been donatged to the park by various individuals and businesses. The sign for the park was donated by Tony Willoughby, tables and benches have been donated by the Crawford family; Viskosky family; Ben D. Hooker Family; Wayne Christian Family; Scull Timber Company; Howard and Elaine Ballard; George, Teresa and Naylor Bowers; John Shellhorn; and Floyd Watson Family. Roland and Diane Cross and family have made donations toward future lighting of the park.
The park has decorations including lights and trees decorated by the children at Tenaha ISD.
(Photo: The City of Center Council (seen above from left) consists of Jerry Lathan, Leigh Porterfield, Howell Howard, Mayor David Chadwick, Jim Forbes, Charles Rushing and Joyce Johnson.)
December 12, 2014 - Newly elected Center City Council members were sworn in at their recent regular scheduled meeting held on Monday, December 8, 2014.
Incumbent council members Leigh Porterfield, Jerry Lathan, Jim Forbes and Charles Rushing were all sworn in by Barbara Boyd, City Secretary, and following the swearing in the council members voted to keep Charles Rushing as the Mayor Pro Tem.
Lathan was the only council member seeking re-election whom had a challenger in the race; however, he retained his seat following the election.
The council approved Ordinance 2014-16 - Water Conservation & Drought Contingency Plan which is mandated by the state for the city to submit to the state. Chad Nehring, City Manager, explained the contingency plan is redone every five years as mandated by state law, "The only significant changes other than the data values for recent water usage consumption does adapt the goals for gallon per capita for daily down slightly, I do think they're achievable and obtainable and quite honestly there's no penalty if our customers don't end up meeting those goals."
According to Nehring, one part of the plan which may be of interest to customers is the drought watering schedule, "We have adjusted and adapted the drought watering schedules several times, the last several years, particularly after the 2011 drought."
Nehring states the plan is as lenient as the state allows. The schedule shows stage 1 of the plan to allow a two day a week watering cycle, stage 2 allows for one day a week and stage 3 would not allow any outdoor watering or excessive usage.
Resolution 2014-32 - Authorizing 2015 CDBG Application was approved by the council. This is the bi-annual application cycle for US HUD funds distributed regionally throughout the state by COG regions for low to moderate income area community development projects.
A benefit of $275,000 in grant funding is possible should the grant be awarded to the city with a required local match of $56,000 in funds. The system Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) uses to decide if a project meets specific requirements has been altered and different projects have moved up the ladder.
"Historically water and sewer projects used to score at least one point better than streets, which then subsequently scored at least one point better than parks, other community activities," said Nehring. "This last year they changed the scoring, only in DETCOG, to make parks and other community facilities score one point better than water, sewer and streets."
Nehring stated a plan was drawn up two years ago for work to be done on Perry Sampson Park; however, the funds were not available at that time. According to Nehring, with the changes in the scoring system Perry Sampson Park would have a greater chance of scoring well in the new system.
During January 5 - 19, Nehring reported a biannual water maintenance program will be in progress as the water department as they flush chloramine from the water system with chlorine. He explained residents will take notice of the bleach odor of the water during that time period.
Several 100s of thousands has been returned to DETCOG for re-appropriation within the region for disaster recovery projects not fully funded or were not completed, "We did submit a letter two years ago asking for those funds to be considered for a project that we had to downgrade. One of the generators got cut at our water plant, at the lake actually. We had the mayor go ahead an reiterate a couple of weeks ago the same request to at least attempt to garner those funds that had to be backed off in the first place."
During the meeting recognition was given to Howell Howard for one year of service on the council and to Jim Forbes who was recognized for his 20 years of service on the council.
Items on the agenda receiving approval include: 1) Minutes of the Regular Meeting on November 17, 2014. 2) Elect Charles Rushing as Mayor Pro Tem. 3) Ordinance 2014-16 - Water Conservation & Drought Contingency Plan. 4) Resolution 2014-32 - Authorizing 2015 CDBG Application. 5) Resolution 2014-33 Authorizing Land Acquisition. 6) Resolution 2014-34 Authorizing Agreement for IP Telephony System. 7) Award of bid - Hutcherson Drive - TCF Project: Drewery Construction in the amount of $336,210.50. 8) Award of bid - Utility Treatment Chemicals. 9) Authorization of contract with Terra Renewal for Sludge Lagoon Maintenance. 10) Award Grant Management to Gary Traylor & 11) Associates for 2014 Downtown Revitalization Texas Capital Fund Project.
Photo: Center City Council members are seen being sworn in by Barbara Boyd (in blue jacket), City Secretary.
Pictured above are council members (from left) Jerry Lathan, Jim Forbes, Leigh Porterfield and Charles Rushing.
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