Category: Daily Brief

UPDATE 2 p.m.: The murdered assistant district attorney has been identified as Mark Hasse.

HOT TOPIC: A Kaufman County assistant district attorney was shot and killed this morning while walking from his car to work.

The name of the victim has not been released at this time.

The shooting happened about 9 a.m. and took place about two blocks from the courthouse in the courthouse annex parking lot.

Police are looking for two suspects, who reportedly fled the scene in an older model silver Ford Taurus.

This Dallas Morning News blog has been a good source of information on the tragedy. 

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WHAT YOU MISSED

State Rep. Lance Gooden filed four more resolutions honoring local residents.

The Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals are ready to open up their season. 

Congressman Jeb Hensarling visited Athens yesterday. He appeared at the standing-room-only county annex and answered questions from area residents.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE TALKING ABOUT

The Athens Review remembers the Columbia Shuttle tragedy. 

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HOT TOPIC: Trees help clean the air, provide oxygen, prevent soil erosion .. and are just plain fun to climb. (From Tree People)

Right now, you can get a real deal on East Texas hardwood trees at the East Texas Arboretum.

The Arboretum recently received a donation of hundreds of the trees, and they are being sold at a drastically reduced price. According to a Axe & Answered review, some of these trees would normally retail for more than $200, but are being sold for $25-$50.

The trees are on sale through Saturday.

Arboretum Director Teresa Glasgow said the money raised will go toward building an educational “play garden” for the kids.

The Arboretum is located on Patterson Road off U.S. Highway 175. Check out their website here. 

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ON TAP TONIGHT

The Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals will be hosting their annual Play 4 Kay game tonight to raise awareness and money for the fight against cancer. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

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WHAT YOU MISSED

Athens resident Fred Head wrote a tribute to the late Paul Harrup. 

Brownsboro’s John W. Nellist graduated from basic training. 

A great photo from Athens ISD of Athens Intermediate School Principal Ginger Morrison surrounded by her staff and students in celebration of 5 years cancer free.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE TALKING ABOUT

Apparently there is a boundary dispute between two volunteer fire departments who want to start Emergency Services Districts. The Review has a story. 

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You can get the Daily Brief in your inbox, Monday through Friday. Just add your email in the form below and let Henderson County Now come to you.

HOT TOPIC: If you’ve ever wanted to serve on the city council or school board, now might be the time …. depending on where you live.

The filing period for May city and school board elections opens tomorrow, Jan. 30, and closes March 1.

Because of changes to the election cycle, not all cities or school districts are having an election this May. You can learn more on the reason for that by reading our explainer. 

Entities that are having elections include:

Athens ISD: There will be three seats up for election this cycle at AISD. Place 5 (Raymond Williams), Place 6 (David Freeman), and Place 7 (Robert Spears).

City of Athens: Seats that will be open include mayor (Jerry Don Vaught) and Place 1 (Monte Montgomery). In November, former council member Vaught took the place of Randy Daniel, who stepped down to become Justice of the Peace Pct. 1. Montgomery took Vaught’s council spot. Both spots would have been up for election this cycle normally.

City of Malakoff: The terms are up for Mayor Delois Pagitt, Councilman Tim Trimble, and Councilwoman Jeanette King.

City of Gun Barrel City: Three council seats will be up at GBC. Rodney Bevil in Place 1, Curtis Webster in Place 3 and Ronny Johnson in Place 5, at-large.

Other cities with elections include: Brownsboro, Caney City and Eustace. The Athens Review beat me to the punch on those. 

If you live in one of these cities, you now have the chance to step up and serve.

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ON TAP TONIGHT

Athens boys basketball is home while the girls are on the road, both against Mabank. JV boys soccer is also on the road.

The Malakoff boys and girls basketball teams are on the road. 

The Cross Roads boys and girls basketball teams are at Dawson. 

Eustace boys and girls basketball is on the road at Red Oak Life. 

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WHAT YOU MISSED

If you like to keep up on Henderson County news through Facebook, but are missing posts because they aren’t showing up in your news feed, I have an answer … The Henderson County Now news list. 

Subscribe to this list and you will get all the posts from Henderson County Now, the four county newspapers, the Tyler Paper, plus a Tyler TV and radio station …… I included everyone else because my goal is to keep you informed and, well, I can’t be everywhere!

The way interest lists work, these posts won’t show up in your news feed … you have to click on the list name to get your news … I suggest moving it up to your Favorites so you can see when something new has been posted.

If you have any problems, let me know

Obituaries: Frank Ray Mallory Deason, Jr., Mary Dixon, Marine Creech. 

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WHAT OTHERS ARE TALKING ABOUT

Review Editor Jayson Larson wrote a very nice column about the passing of Tony Douglas. 

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You can get the Daily Brief in your inbox, Monday through Friday. Just add your email in the form below and let Henderson County Now come to you.

THE HOT TOPIC: The calendar may only say January, but the whispers of “repeat” are starting to be heard around the Trinity Valley Community College Lady Cardinals.

After Saturday’s romp over Panola, 73-53, the defending national champion Lady Cards are ranked No. 3 in the nation and boast a 20-1 record, 7-0 in conference. The team’s only “loss” came as the result of a forfeit earlier in the year.

If not for that forfeit, the Lady Cards would likely be ranked No. 1.

The girls are scheduled to be home Wednesday night against Paris in the team’s annual Play 4 Kay game, which is to raise money and awareness for the fight against cancer. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

Friday, a nice crowd showed up at the McDonald’s in Athens where the Lady Cards were signing pink t-shirts and promoting the event. Kudos to Kevin and Jeaneane Lilly for giving TVCC that venue.

We’ll see you Wednesday.

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WHAT YOU MISSED

The Athens High School swimming and diving teams competed in district meets this weekend … everyone advanced to Regionals, I am told. Pictures below.

I put together a Facebook interest list to help folks keep up with Henderson County news. 

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WHAT OTHERS ARE TALKING ABOUT

The Review is reporting that the Parrot Head Club of Cedar Creek Lake broke ground on a handicapped-accessible pier at Tom Finley Park. 

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If you need something added to the Daily Brief, just click “Contact” in the menu bar and let us know.

You can get the Daily Brief in your inbox, Monday through Friday. Just add your email in the form below and let Henderson County Now come to you.