Category: Howe News Bulletin

Founders Day will be held Saturday, Oct. 24 from 2 pm to 8 pm in conjunction with the Downtown Howe-lloween Festival.  Founders Day has been a May event since its inception in 1986, however, due to COVID-19, it was rescheduled.  The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce initially rescheduled the event for June but was pushed back again due to Gov. Abbott’s social distancing orders at that time.

Kids are welcomed to wear their costumes to the festival. Vendors are requesting that “trick or treating” take place after 5 pm to be able to help each kid participate.

The festival will host a record number of vendors nearing 100 and occupying both Haning and O’Connell Streets.  Bent Creek will again be the featured performer on stage at the west end of downtown and food vendors will be located on the east end.  On O’Connell Street, a wine-tasting will take place near Summit Gardens.

Due to health concerns, the chamber has chosen not to include bounce houses and the kid train with this event, but kids are welcome to wear their favorite Halloween costumes and “Trick or Treat” at the vendor locations.

This will be the fourth year in a row the chamber has hosted the Downtown Howe-lloween Festival.  It has become one of the most popular community events of the year as ghouls and goblins flock to the downtown area.

The Howe Chamber will be taking COVID-related precautions and encourage all festival attendees and participants to do the same- this includes adhering to any current governor’s orders/any city/county recommendations given. Hand sanitizing stations will be located throughout festival grounds, and face masks are required by the State of Texas when 6-foot social distancing cannot be achieved. The chamber requests those to please stay home if you, or anyone you spend time with, is having any Covid-19 symptoms, or has been around anyone who has recently tested positive for the virus.

FOR VENDORS:

Haning Street and a portion of O’Connell Street will be blocked at noon.  It is suggested to park vehicles at Independent Financial, First Baptist Church, or along the railroad track area.  No parking will be allowed on Haning Street or O’Connell Street. It is advised to not to park at any time near Haning Street and Highway 5.  The chamber asks to please do not drive onto either Haning or O’Connell Streets to set up your vendor booth.  There will be too many vendors trying to set up in the middle of the street and there will not be access to either street for unloading.  

The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce booth will be in front of the Chamber office on Haning Street.  It is space #1 and will be available for those that need assistance locating their vendor space. The vendor space number will be marked on the street for convenience and maps will be located throughout the downtown area.  Vendors do not have to check-in at the chamber booth.  Chamber board members will come around and greet each vendor. 

HOWE, Texas – Howe Police officers arrested 42-year-old Mario Gabriel Muniz at his Sherman home Wednesday morning on two warrants for Sexual Assault of a Child.

The parents of the juvenile, who will remain unidentified, found sexually explicit texts between Muniz and their child and notified police. Officers interviewed Muniz who admitted that he met the child through a family member and was aware of the child’s age when they began a sexual relationship that started in May and continued until the days leading up to his arrest. The sexual activity occurred in Sherman and McKinney.

If convicted, Muniz faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each charge.

There are no indications Muniz had a relationship with any other juvenile.

PARIS – The Texas Department of Transportation will host an online virtual public meeting at 5 p.m. Oct. 27 to gather public input on construction of a new roadway location from Scharff Road (four miles west of Gunter, Texas) to State Highway 289 (Preston Road) in Grayson County. The new roadway is known as the Gunter Relief Route.

A pre-recorded audio and video presentation will be available. After viewing the online presentation, residents can provide comments and input on this proposed roadway. Comments must be received on or before Nov. 11, 2020 to be part of the official public meeting record.

The purpose of the proposed project is to provide infrastructure options to reduce traffic congestion on the existing roadways and in the town of Gunter; improve operations of the roadway; provide a safer, more convenient route through the area; increase mobility, and provide improved connectivity in this area..

The project will construct a new four-lane divided roadway with two-lane left turn lane from FM 121 four miles west of Gunter to SH 289 south of Gunter, a distance of approximately 3.6 miles. The project includes identifying, developing, and evaluating alternatives for engineering feasibility; selecting a recommended alternative; and developing environmental documentation to analyze potential social, environmental, and economic effects in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, officials said.

To view the pre-recorded presentation, go to www.txdot.gov and click on Inside TxDOT. Then click on Get Involved, followed by Hearings-Meetings. Then select the Paris District.

Residents can also copy/paste this link into their browser:

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/paris/102720.html

Comments can also be written and mailed to: Duane Good P.E., TxDOT Paris District Office, 1365 N. Main Street, Paris, TX 75460. Comments may also be sent via email to Duane.Good@txdot.gov .

Special communication or accommodation needs for the virtual meeting, such as the need for an interpreter, can be arranged by contacting the TxDOT Paris District office at (903) 737-9282 no later than 4 p.m. on Oct. 22. Please be aware that advance notice is required as some services and accommodations may require time for TxDOT to arrange.

TxDOT’s Paris District includes Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Grayson, Hunt, Hopkins, Lamar, Rains and Red River counties.

The Texoma Earth Day Festival planners will offer a one-time recycling event in Sherman on October 24, 2020 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Community members will be able to bring a wide variety of materials to the Sherman City Hall South Parking Lot at the corner of Pecan and S Elm Streets. The event is free to the public, and no proof of residency will be required.

A wide variety of materials will be accepted for recycling:

The Sherman Police will collect unused and expired prescription medications, over the counter drugs and pet medications. Keeping our water free from chemicals is one way to help ensure the health and safety of our water sources. Research has shown that pharmaceuticals—including prescription drugs—are present in our nation’s water and may cause environmental harm. Keeping our water clean is an important public health goal.

Mobile Shred It will provide shredding services for sensitive documents for individuals only. Those who need to have documents shredded will need to unload their vehicles and drive off the parking lot. Due to social distancing requirements, no one will be able to stay to watch their documents shredded. The shredding event is not intended for businesses. Participants will be limited to the back of a truck or interior of a car. No trailers of documents will be accepted for shredding. The shredding event is sponsored by Douglass Distributing.

Keystone Enterprises will provide electronic waste collection. They will accept anything that has had a current running through it, including small appliances, electric and battery-operated lawn equipment, batteries and battery chargers, lighting, fans, televisions and monitors of any kind, and large appliances. Refrigerators and air conditioners must be drained of freon before they are brought to the site. For a full list of materials accepted, visit our website or the Facebook event.

Strategic Materials will provide a container for glass bottles and jars of any color. Plate glass and glass dishes, bakeware and cookware will not be accepted. Strategic Materials processes recycled glass for use in a wide array of products, creating efficiencies for their customers while conserving earth’s natural resources. Glass takes 1,000,000 years to fully degrade in a landfill. Recycling glass takes 30% of the energy required to produce new glass from raw materials. A six-pack of beer bottles creates enough fiberglass insulation to fill a standard wall cavity. The container from Strategic Materials will be on the parking lot from Friday October 23 through Sunday October 25. Individuals and businesses are invited to bring glass bottles and jars to add to the container at any time during the weekend. 

Choctaw Nation is a leading recycling partner in Texoma. They will provide a container and will accept Styrofoam, paper (even shredded paper), flattened cardboard, plastics 1,2&5, ink and toner cartridges, cell phones. Cardboard boxes from the shredding event will be flattened and added to the Choctaw Nation container. The container will also sit on the parking lot over the weekend, and individuals are invited to add to it over the weekend.

While the containers for Strategic Materials and Choctaw Nation will remain on the parking lot until Monday morning, the other recycling events are restricted to the event hours.
Due to social distancing restraints, we will have a minimal number of volunteers on site.  Recycling participants should expect to unload their own materials. Masks will be required. Those leaving documents to be shredded will not be allowed to stay on site to watch.
For more information, please check our website www.earthdaytexoma.org