Author: Howe Enterprise

This Saturday night at Grayson College South Campus in Van Alstyne, the Hurricane Creek Rotary Club will host their annual casino night which will also feature prizes, drinks, hor d’oeuvres.  Proceeds go to fund scholarships and teacher of the year awards in Howe, Anna, Van Alstyne.

Tickets are $50 for individual or $75 per couple and available at the Howe Development Alliance office in Downtown Howe.

6:00 pm – Doors open
Food and Bar opens
Silent Auction opens
6:15 pm – Casino Tables open
9:15 pm – Live Auction begins
10:00 pm – Casino Prize Drawing

Nearly 20 years ago with Downtown Howe looking like a ghost town, M.E. Curtis convinced the city council to place a “hotel” in the historic business district which would leave the zoning as a commercial district.  The “hotel” then became “apartments” where tenants pay by the week.  Marie Curtis, representing her husband, told the Howe City Council on Tuesday night that because of the commercial zoning of “hotel”, it will cost them $500 more per year for insurance and requested to change the zoning to multi-family.  She also told the council that they plan to add additional units to the north side of the complex.

Councilwoman Debbie Lowery stated that she had phone calls from citizens that opposed making Howe’s commercial historic downtown district a multi-family zone.  Councilman Bill French said that he was concerned that changing the zoning to multi-family would affect what type of businesses could be in the downtown area.

“The downtown area does not make as much money now as it did when there was an upholstery shop that was paying taxes, a beauty shop that was paying taxes, and a hardware store that was paying taxes.” said Marie Curtis to the council.  “It looks good, but you don’t get as much revenue.”

With the recent upgrades and renovation of the buildings that housed the former beauty shop and hardware store, the taxable value of each building increased by over $30,000 each.  The renovation to the building that housed the upholstery shop increased the taxable value by nearly $30,000 according to the Grayson County Appraisal District.

The council unanimously denied the zoning change and the “hotel/apartments” will remain as is.  Any additions to the property will have to be approved by the city as a standard hotel.

(full story in Monday’s Howe Enterprise)

On Monday night, Howe’s Planning and Zoning board approved M.E. and Marie Curtis’ application to change Howe’s “hotel” from a commercial zone to a multi-family zone.  Marie Curtis told the council that her and her husband plan to add additional apartments to the newly renovated downtown area.

Notices were sent out to nearby owners to accept or protest the change of the zoning, of which two came back in favor and two came back in protest.

The decision is now up to the city council for final approval to accept or deny the zone change.  The public city council meeting is tonight at 6 pm at the Howe Community Center located at 700 W. Haning St.

The council, by keeping the with the commercial zoning would have the “hotel” remain in its current state but would keep the downtown commercial district in tact.  By re-zoning the property to multi-family would open the door for more additions and more multi-family units to be built in downtown in the future.

 

Constance “Connie” Marion Bowen McClure passed from her earthly home into God’s perfect eternity on January 16, 2016 at the age of 92.  She was preceded in death by her loving husband, Lt. Col. John Boyce McClure U.S. Army (retired), and parents, Florence Virginia Busby Bowen and Elmer Lewis Bowen. Connie is lovingly remembered by her children Anthony McClure, Carol Keller (Robert), Priscilla Barnes (Bill), Melissa Evans (Bill), ten grandchildren and nineteen great-grandchildren.

Mrs. McClure was born in Lowell, Massachusetts on May 11, 1923. Her family moved to Anderson, South Carolina when she was a child. She attended Anderson College while still in high school and after graduation, married and began her life as an Army wife.  Always the one for doing for others, she was the perfect wife, mother, grandmother great-grandmother and friend.  She cherished her many friends from around the world and those she saw day to day.  Time with family was special and she took interest in all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren’s activities and accomplishments.

Connie, formerly of Dallas, Howe and McKinney, worked as a secretary for many years at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas Independent School District and Pediatric Associates of Dallas.  Additionally she was involved in many service and social organizations including Newcomers’ Club of Dallas, Kiwanians, Military Officers Wives’ Club, XYZ, Red Hat and she was a lifetime member of PTA.  Connie loved to travel and the military took the family to many assignments throughout Europe and Japan as well as the United States.  Connie and John continued their love of travel in retirement visiting Greece, the Holy Lands, the Panama Canal, Spain, the Caribbean, as well as numerous adventures across the States.  Known for her energy, thoughtfulness, compassion and sweet Southern style, “Gam” will be missed by all that knew and loved her.

“All you need is love.  It has been true for me. I didn’t have beauty, fame, success or other things like that but I did have the love of family and friends that made me what I was and sustained me when things were rough. Please continue to apply that love to each other.  And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” (unknown)

Connie’s Celebration of Life service will be held at Restland Wildwood Chapel in Dallas on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 3:00 pm with family visitation preceding the service and beginning at 2:00 pm.  If desired, memorials may be sent to the Alzheimer’s Association of Dallas, 3001 Knox Street, Suite 200, Dallas, TX 75205 or Grace Hospice, 730 Ave. F, Plano, TX  75074.

By Tom Watt for Sheriff of Grayson County

I hope this finds you enjoying a great start to 2016! It has definitely been an unusual week between Christmas and New Year’s Day in the race for Grayson County Sheriff. The big news is the resignation of David Russell from the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office due to, in his own words, a pending investigation.

As a 32-year law enforcement officer and retired Chief of Police, I know that effective law enforcement requires that the people trust those sworn to uphold the law and those sworn to uphold the law must live up to that trust. Integrity, transparency, wisdom and competence all play a part in establishing this trust. Secrecy, aborted investigations and veiled explanations destroy that trust. For example, when a high ranking official resigns pending an investigation, the public has an expectation to know what the complaint was, or at least what the complaint is about.

Early in my career as a law enforcement administrator I served as the Operations Commander at Sherman PD. My mentor, friend and supervisor, Chief Jerry Caylor, engrained in me the understanding that difficult situations arise in law enforcement all the time. The public will judge you not in regard to the difficult situation, but in how you handle the situation and whether it is handled openly and honestly. “It’s not when the bad thing happens, it’s how you respond when it does.” That has been proven to me many times throughout my career. The public wants and needs the chief law enforcement officer of the county to be a leader who can deal with stressful situations in an open, honest and transparent manner. After all, as public servants, we are doing the people’s business and the people have the right to know.

I’ll be the first to acknowledge the major contributions Sheriff Keith Gary has made to our county. He has served the citizens with pride, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, his leadership team has not. His leadership team failed to fulfill their duties to the citizens of Grayson County. His leadership team has simply not lived up to his high standards. We have all witnessed their failures in the recent past. Whether it be the theft of confiscated weapons by the supervisor responsible for overseeing them, the falsified training reports made to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, or the undisclosed investigation aborted by the recent resignation of Mr. Russell, it’s time for a reassessment of the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office leadership team. I will always respect Sheriff Gary, but we must recognize the shortcomings of his current administration for the good of the people of Grayson County.

I will continue to focus on my proven track record of integrity, experience and professionalism throughout the remainder of this campaign. I promise you I will never forget that my job as Sheriff is to protect and serve the people of Grayson County openly and honestly. If you would like to follow my campaign, please ‘like’ my page. Thank you for your support. I appreciate you.

Political Advertisement Paid for by Tom Watt, Treasurer Robert Brady, Denison, Texas. Tom Watt subscribes to the Code of Fair Campaign Practices. Privacy Policy Tom Watt for Sheriff P.O. Box 104 Sherman, TX 75091

The new Walmart Neighborhood Market in Sherman will open to the community Wednesday, Jan. 13, 7:30 a.m., bringing a broad assortment of fresh, affordable groceries at Walmart’s everyday low prices. Customers will also enjoy the convenience of on-site services such as a full pharmacy and fuel station and a free store pickup service providing an easy way to shop millions of products on Walmart.com. The new store will employ up to 95 full- and part-time associates.

“We are very excited to open a Walmart Neighborhood Market in the Sherman community,” said store manager George Wilthers. “Our associates are looking forward to serving our customers and the opportunity to provide a clean, fast and friendly shopping experience.”

The new store is located at located at 2210 N. FM 1417 and will create approximately 95 jobs for full- and part-time positions within the store. Applicants interested in careers at Walmart can apply at a store’s hiring kiosk or online at Walmartcareers.com. Store manager, GeorgeWilthers began his Walmart career in 1988 as an hourly associate at a store in Denison.

At Walmart, more than 75 percent of store management teams started as hourly associates. In 2014, 160,000 associates were promoted, and 40 percent of those promotions went to associates within the first year of their employment. Earlier this year Walmart announced it would be investing more than $1B in higher wages and training and other enhancements for its associates.

The store offers fresh produce and meat, pantry staples and a full line of groceries from leading brands.  In addition to organics and nutritious food choices, customers will also find a Grab-and-Go section with rotisserie chicken, standard deli sides, and bakery items including custom cakes.

The Neighborhood Market includes a pharmacy with a full range of products, immunizations and services and Walmart pharmacists ready to assist customers with product and prescription questions. Sherman residents can easily transfer prescriptions and order refills on the go with the Walmart mobile app. A drive thru pharmacy window makes prescription drop off and pick up quick and easy.

The store is approximately 41,000 square feet and offers a wide assortment of products to meet the needs of Sherman residents. Customers will find health and beauty aids, pet products and cleaning supplies. Shopping is more convenient than ever as Sherman residents can shop seven million items on Walmart.com, many of which can be shipped for free to any Walmart store through Walmart Pickup.

The 24-7 operation has a Facebook page located at www.facebook.com/walmart3521