Category: Howe News Bulletin

On Wednesday morning, Grayson County Sheriff Tom Watt announced in a press conference that the Sheriff’s Office had been notified by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) that they are currently closed to inmate transfers from county jail facilities due to Hurricane Harvey’s impact.  Weekly Grayson County sends eight to 10 inmates per week to the TDCJ facilities.  This closure means that any inmates that were ordered to State Jail or TDCJ will remain that the county jail facilities until the TDCJ units reopen for transfers.

“As you can imagine here in Grayson County, if they (TDCJ) won’t accept them, we have to hold them,” said Sheriff Watt.  “This morning at 6:58 am, our numbers were 410 inmates.  We have a capacity of 440.”

Sheriff Watt has asked local law enforcement agencies throughout the county to try to refrain from bringing offenders to the county facility if other alternatives are available.  Captain Brian Ford, the jail administrator, explained a couple of the different options that the county is currently working on to maintain or reduce the number of inmates in the downtown detention facility.  Some of those plans currently include to house more inmates at the Low Risk Detention Center at the North Texas Regional Airport.  Another option if this is a long-term situation is to ask judges to offer Personal Recognizance bonds to nonviolent offenders, work with probation/parole to schedule hearings in a more timely fashion or adjustments to credit for time served.  A last resort was to house inmates in other facilities, which would cost the county $50 a day per inmate housed in another facility. 

“We manage our population as well as it can be done,” said Sheriff Watt.  “This is going to be a, I hope, a short-term impact on our county and all of our counties that are affected.  I just want all of our law enforcement to understand that if you don’t have to take somebody to our jail, I would prefer that you not. ”

Captain Brian Ford said that the facility currently has 15 to 20 individuals on parole waiting for hearings.  That could be expedited to try and get the individuals reinstated to the public.

“My commitment to this community is that we will not release any violent offenders.  That is not going to happen,” said Watt.  “What we’re looking for is someone who is not violent, but just has trouble making good decisions and someone who is less harm to our community.  Those are the kind of people that would be candidates for release.”

The sheriff also stated that sending inmates to other county facilities is not a good option due to the $50 per inmate the county would have to pay to another facility.  Also, the other jails in nearby counties are facing the same overcrowding situations due to the same notice from TDJC.

Several individuals and companies have contacted the Howe Enterprise to give information on how they are spearheading a relief effort so that people can help fellow Texans in the Greater Houston Area.

Freedom Charters will be setting up buses on the parking lot between Hobby Lobby and Chick-Fil-A in Sherman on Saturday starting at 10 am.  For those that want to bring water, towels, or any other items of need, the buses will accept those items through Sunday and deliver them on Monday.

Also, John Suggs of Howe is organizing a local group to make the trip to Houston to help with labor.  His number is 254-540-9431 and he is in search of those willing to take their boats to the flooded areas.

At approximately 6:35 pm on Thursday evening, Howe Police officers responded to a report of a shooting on US Highway 75 near Hall Cemetery Road.  Upon arrival, officers found that a 21-year-old male named Tahbari Kevante Collins from Houston had sustained a gun shot wound. There were two other individuals in the vehicle. It appears the shots came from outside the vehicle while the vehicle was traveling south on the highway. The victim was transported to Wilson N Jones Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. The incident is still under investigation with the assistance of the Texas Rangers.

Howe Police Chief Matt Whitworth, serving on his first day on the job as chief in Howe, told the Howe Enterprise that the HPD is investigating a shooting that occurred on southbound US Highway 75 at approximately 6:30 pm on Thursday evening.  Whitworth said that the Texas Rangers were called in to help with the investigation.

“At this time we’re in the beginning stages and it’s likely to be tomorrow before we give anymore more information on it,” said Whitworth.

Click here for photos of the scene

Abby’s Restaurant in Downtown Howe will be closed for a week starting Aug. 26 through Sept. 4.  The restaurant will reopen on Sept. 5 with regular business hours.  The closure is due to the restaurant owner acclimating her youngest daughter to first-time college life in California.

“I need four days to get her settled in and three days to cry,” Abby’s owner Lillian Avila told the Enterprise.

In Small Town, Texas, rumors can sometimes do great damage to small businesses and Avila wants to let Howe and surrounding communities know why they will be closed so that wrong information does not spread.

Local small businesses are the backbone of America.  Shopping local renews and strengthens your home town and helps neighbors pay for things such as college.

by Ken Bridges

On Monday, August 21, viewers in the continental United States will be witness to a rare, spectacular event: the total eclipse of the Sun by the Moon.  This will be the first total eclipse of the Sun seen in the United States since 1979.  And Texas will be able to enjoy most of the event in spectacular fashion.

Though the Moon orbits the Earth every 28 days, the alignment of the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun to produce an eclipse only happens rarely.   A wide arc of the US will fall into total darkness on August 21 as the eclipse crosses the nation, from Salem, Oregon, curving across to Casper, Wyoming, to Missouri through Kansas City and St. Louis, then to Nashville, Tennessee, and down to Charleston, South Carolina.  The path of the totality, or area of total eclipse, will be about 70 miles wide and viewers in the zone of the totality will be under a total eclipse for roughly two minutes as the Moon’s shadow crosses the Earth at a speed of 2000 miles per hour.

Eclipses have been sighted for centuries.  Among the earliest recorded eclipses occurred in ancient Mesopotamia in 1375 BC.  Ancient Egyptians, who worshipped the Sun, were reportedly so disturbed by the bad omens associated with eclipses that they would never mention or write about them, fearing bad luck.  Some scholars have pointed to eclipses in AD 29 and AD 33 as possibly being the eclipses observed during the crucifixion of Christ.

Historically, eclipses have been met with both fascination and dread.  The Chinese believed that dragons were eating the Sun, causing an eclipse.  An old Choctaw legend held that a black squirrel caused solar eclipses when it tried to eat the Sun and that the people needed to make noises to scare it off.  Similarly, the Cherokees believed that a giant frog jumped onto the sun to cause the eclipse and that the people must beat drums and make loud noises to scare it away.  For generations, Navajos believed that they should not eat during an eclipse or they would experience digestive problems.  Navajo traditions also warned against looking at the Sun during an eclipse, or they would go blind.  The ancient Mayans were able to carefully calculate when eclipses would occur.

Eclipses have also been an important tool for scientific discovery.  Astronomers discovered a new comet during an eclipse in AD 418.  The Sun’s corona was first noticed in an eclipse in 968.  In the eighteenth century, solar prominences, eruptions on the Sun’s surface, were observed.  These all helped give important information on how the Sun worked.  The first eclipse photographed was in 1860.  Eclipses in 1919 and 1929 helped confirm Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by confirming that the light of stars traveling near the Sun was bent by the Sun’s intense gravity.

The maximum eclipse for August 21 for West Texas and the Panhandle will occur around 12:55 PM.  For eastern Texas, this will occur at about 1:15.   The beginnings of the eclipse will occur around 11:30 AM in West Texas and at 11:45 AM in East Texas.  In Grayson County and northern Collin County, viewers will see 83% coverage, peaking at 1:09 PM.  Viewers in Northeast Texas will get the best view, with 85% of the Sun eclipsed in Texarkana.  The eclipse will end around 2:30 PM.

Viewers must remember that they should never look at the Sun directly.  Even with most of the Sun obscured, the glare is too intense for the human eye to tolerate.  Looking directly at the Sun is dangerous and could cause permanent eye damage.  Not even regular sunglasses or binoculars are safe.  Darkened Welder’s glass is the only safe glass dark enough to view an eclipse through.  The classic pinhole projector will offer safe viewing: simply poke a small hole through one sheet of paper (poster board or cardboard can also work) and allow the fading sunlight to project onto another piece of paper.
NASA has unveiled a website for the eclipse, including tips on viewing the event safely at https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/safety.  Some community organizations in different areas will host eclipse viewings to allow residents to safely enjoy the event.

An even more exciting eclipse for Texans will occur on April 8, 2024, as a total eclipse will be observed crossing the heart of the state, with a totality of more then 100 miles wide.  The totality in 2024 will cross Eagle Pass, San Antonio, Austin, Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Texarkana..  Nature offers incredible wonders when we are willing to observe.

Dr. Bridges is a Texas native, writer, and history professor.  He can be reached at drkenbridges@gmail.com.