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Since 2015, Cavender Home Theater and the Howe Area Chamber of Commerce have treated Howe to an ice cream social in the downtown area. Due to COVID-19, some changes will be made for tonight’s event which will take place on O’Connell Street, a street over to the north from downtown. It will begin at 6:30 pm next to Summit Gardens.

This year’s ice cream will be served not in a bowl, but in a wrapper. Chris Cavender, owner of Cavender Home Theater usually serves ice cream from containers of Blue Bell, however, tonight he and his staff will be handing the tasty treats through the car window as it is a “drive-thru” ice cream social “distancing.”

There will be many options for those who want to drive through O’Connell Street such as Snickers, Klondike bars, Blue Bell cups, Drumsticks, and much more.

The Howe Area Chamber of Commerce welcomes everyone and invites individuals to join the chamber for $25 annually and businesses to join $75 annually. The chamber supports their members and Cavender Home Theater was a charter member in the reformation of the chamber in 2015.

People who have recovered from the coronavirus should not need a test to get back to work. The Texas Medical Association (TMA) COVID-19 Task Force announced support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendation that individuals should not be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result or a note from a physician to return to the office or classroom after being sick, unless in specific circumstances.

“We know that time and reduction of symptoms are the most accurate indications that a person is no longer infectious,” said Valerie B. Smith, a Tyler pediatrician, and TMA COVID-19 Task Force member. “People diagnosed with COVID-19 can shed [inactive and noncontagious] viral particles for several weeks after they are no longer infectious and may continue to have a positive test,” because it could reveal those viral particles. “Requiring a test to return to work or school would potentially require a person to stay in isolation while no longer infectious.”

Except in specific circumstances, CDC no longer recommends using COVID-19 testing results to end self-quarantine. That’s because some tests can yield false negatives if taken too soon. Alternately, false positives can occur on tests when individuals with confirmed COVID-19 continue to test positive even after the infectious period has passed, due to the inactive viral particles showing up on a test. Also, during periods of high disease transmission, testing facilities may be experiencing higher than usual volumes, resulting in strained capacity, limited availability, and higher wait times both to get tested and to receive results.

Instead, CDC had adopted a symptom-based strategy to determine when patients diagnosed with COVID-19 can end their self-quarantine. People with mild to moderate COVID-19 remain infectious no longer than 10 days after their symptoms began, according to CDC researchers. People with more severe illness or who are severely immunocompromised remain infectious no longer than 20 days after their symptoms began.

​“The symptom-based strategy allows COVID-19-positive patients to return to work or school after 10 days of isolation as long as they have been without fever for 24 hours and have improvement of their other symptoms,” said Dr. Smith.  “The TMA approach to return to school and work is consistent with the CDC guidance that will allow us to protect our community and allow those infected with COVID-19 to return to their daily lives as soon as possible.”

The few patients who might still need testing to return to work or school include those who are severely immunocompromised and whose infectious disease physician recommends a test, or people seeking to end their isolation or other precautions earlier than would occur under the symptom-based strategy. They would need two consecutive negative test results taken at least 24 hours apart.

TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 53,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.

Varsity Football

• Per UIL guidelines, attendance at all athletic events will be limited to 50% capacity, which for us is about 525 seats on the home side.  Considering that we have a number of fans stand along the fence, we will sell a maximum of 550 tickets.
• All tickets will be sold prior to the games.  There will be no tickets sold at the gate.
• Tickets may be purchased at the Howe High School office, and ticket sales will end at noon on Fridays. 
• All tickets will be $5 – adults and students.
• A maximum of 4 tickets will be available to families of players, band members, and cheerleaders on Mondays and Tuesdays.  Tickets will go on sale to the general public and students on Wednesday.  Participants can purchase additional tickets for family members on Wednesday. 
• Reserved seating will be available and may be expanded into the adjacent sections if necessary to accommodate social distancing requirements.  Preference will be given to past reserve seating holders and parents of HS players, band, and cheerleaders.  Contact Heidi Debner at 903.745.4406 or debner.heidi@howeisd.net to reserve your seats.
• Reserved seats are $25 per seat for the season.  However, please note – you are still required to purchase a ticket for each game.
• Everyone must have a ticket to enter the stadium – including reserved seating, district pass, and senior citizen pass holders.
• Tickets for away games will also be pre-sale only.  The same purchasing protocols will apply for home and away games, but limits may be adjusted up or down based on stadium seating capacities. 
• Only adults will be allowed to stand along the fence.  Students/children will be required to sit in the stands.

JV and Middle School Football

Tickets for all sub-varsity football games will be sold at the gate as usual.  However, the 50% capacity and social distancing guidelines will still be in effect.

Volleyball

• Per UIL guidelines, attendance at all athletic events will be limited to 50% capacity. 
• For high school non-district games, tickets will be sold at the gate as usual.
• For high school and middle school District 11AAA games, all tickets will be sold prior to the games.  There will be no tickets sold at the gate.
• More detailed protocol for district game ticket sales will be detailed in the near future. 

KXII-TV ran a story last week that claimed the City of Howe owes the City of Sherman $300,000 after not paying their sewage bill for 15 months.  Howe City Administrator Joe Shephard denied that accusation with the following statement to the Howe Enterprise, “A recent news broadcast would lead the listener to believe Howe has not paid the sewer bill from Sherman for over 15 months.  The facts are, from February 2019 through July 2020 the citizens of Howe have paid Sherman $907,047.    Sherman charges us for not only sewage, but for rainwater that enters the system.    This is one reason your water/sewer bill is so high.   The huge amount we, the citizens of Howe, pay Sherman is almost one-third (1/3) of the City’s total annual $3.3 million budget.”

Shephard told KXII that the rates only go up every time it rains. That’s because in Howe, like all other cities, the rainwater seeps into the same pipe as all the sewage, and all of that goes to Sherman to be treated. The City of Howe pays on the amount going through the pipe.

“So, we’re billed per gallon, that runs through this meter,” Shephard said to KXII. “So, when it doesn’t rain, our normal bill is about $30,000 but when we get big rain, it could go up to $80,000, $90,000 to $100,000 and that is what puts us behind.”

Fifty to one hundred-year decisions frighten the death out of community leaders. Before marrying a decision with long term effects, every plausible defection must be reasonably calculated in that decision. To fix a short-term problem, do you make a long-term decision that could set back a community 50 years? The joint sewer contract with the City of Sherman will go down as one of the most disastrous decisions in the history of this community. Some say it was only the beginning of a 4-year period of head scratching decisions by former city council members.

According to a 1968 Howe Enterprise edition, the City of Howe was initially approached by the City of Sherman during the time Sherman was trying to obtain a grant to enhance the sewer treatment plant on FM 1417. For Sherman to qualify for the grant, they needed Howe’s population to qualify. In the original 1968 agreement, Sherman provided Howe citizens wastewater treatment at a maximum of $0.14 per 1,000 gallons. In March of 1986, Howe was paying a flat rate of $487.50 per month, or $0.60 cents per customer. According to the original 1968 contract, Howe was limited to 250,000 gallons per day. Due to rain infiltration, Sherman maintained that the levels of infiltration were as high as 600,000 gallons and in March of 1986 filed suit against Howe for breach of contract.

Sherman cited expansion in both cities from 1968 to 1986 along with the Clean Water Act of 1972 for the need to improve their sewer system. At the time of the lawsuit, Sherman was in the middle of an $18.5 million expense updating their facility.

Former Howe City Administrator Dick Britton told the Howe Enterprise in March of 1986, “Sherman’s suit is based on distorted fact and is no more than a devious attempt to weasel out of our longstanding agreement.”

Britton noted then that Howe offered Sherman to increase its monthly fee by $500 per year for four years, making their annual payments jump from $6,000 to $25,000 per year. Sherman, he said, refused to consider the offer, instead wanting $60,000 to $70,000 annually from Howe.

Howe hired John Hill, a Sherman attorney, to represent the City of Howe in the case and soon afterward, Jerry Kirby resigned his seat as Mayor of Howe leaving Mayor-Pro-Tem Marion Allison in the seat until an election. Ray Bledsoe was eventually elected mayor in April of 1987. City Administrator Dick Britton soon left.

Howe had filed a countersuit on October 10, 1986 stating, among other things, that the contract was part of a series of agreements that give Howe part ownership of the sewer treatment plant. Howe also sought damages if the contract was declared void.

“I sat in that courtroom for five days when Sherman sued us,” said Bledsoe in a 2016 interview. “The judge got up and said, ‘I’m going to dismiss the jury. He said, ‘That contract is not worth the paper it’s printed on’ (referring to the 1968 contract). The judge instructed Howe to pay Sherman for sewer and for Sherman to not discontinue service and for each city to come to an agreement. Bledsoe stated that he worked with Sherman’s David Gattis and Howe would pay Sherman $3,000 per month on a temporary basis.

As we fast forward 30 plus years, Then-Howe Mayor Jeff Stanley told the city council in the August 2016 council meeting, “Our normal bill from Sherman is a little over $22,000 (per month) and recently they have been $60,000. This month should be closer to normal, but we haven’t had many of those in the last couple of years (due to the amount of rain).

Although the city adjusted the wastewater contract services budget expense from $310,400 in 2016 to $550,000 in 2018, they did not pass the bill on to the citizens. The adjustment would result in an increase of roughly $10-$15 per household.

“We’re not asking for an increase from the citizens,” City Administrator Joe Shephard told the council the same night. “We’re just using funds from other places to cover that. We’re not increasing the rates.”

The best news for Howe citizens is that the city is currently in the stages of working with Tomlin Investments to create a wastewater treatment facility to move away from the Sherman Agreement. Howe’s future home development and commercial development growth depend a lot on how much capacity the current infrastructure can handle before a new necessary plant can be in place. The facility is designated for location at Blythe Road near US Highway 75.

Revised Supply Lists:  Visit the HISD web site for revised supply lists for both Remote and On-Campus Instruction.  Look on the white pop up when you first visit the HISD web page.

August 4   8^th Grade Bash Parent Meeting  6 pm at the HMS Cafeteria. Parents only.  Bring a mask and pen.  This is an overview of the Bash planning and fundraising activities.

August 14   6^th Grade Orientation  Howe MS Cafeteria:  1 adult with each student with masks. We will provide information, introduce some of our staff and release students to put supplies in their lockers.  Report to cafeteria.  Park in gym parking lot.  3 sessions and online information available: 

8:30  (students last name A-I)

9:45 (students last name J-Q)

11:00 (students last name R-Z)

August 17     iPad pick up at the HMS Cafeteria:    Student and one parent only w/ mask. iPad insurance is $40.   If at all possible please attend by these times based on your last name.

Students all Grades A-F    9:00-10:30

Students all Grades G-L    10:30-12:00

Students all Grades M-R 1:00-2:30

Students all Grades S-Z     2:30-4:00

August 17 HMS Meet the Teacher Night:  One parent / adult per student with masks. No siblings please.    Attend by last names.   Enter through the cafeteria to pick up schedule. 

Students all Grades A-I     5:30-6:15

Students all Grades J-Q    6:15-7:00

Students all Grades R-Z    7:00-7:45

August 19   First Day of School for both Remote and On-Campus Instruction