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Press Release to the voters of Grayson County, Texas                                                                        June 26, 2020

Early voting begins Monday, June 29, 2020 and ends on July 10, 2020 for the Grayson County Democratic Primary Runoff Election. Voter and poll worker safety at the polls is our top priority in Grayson County. We ask our voters to join us and participate in the recommended voter health safety plan to continue to keep our county safe during this voting season. Elections in 2020 will be conducted with the recommended health protocols advised to our department from the Texas Secretary of State. If you have questions, please call our office at 903-893-8683 or email us at votegrayson@co.grayson.tx.us. Additional information is also available on the county website: www.co.grayson.tx.us.

The following are the minimum health safety plan recommendations in place for the Primary Runoff Election. Individuals are encouraged to adopt additional protocols consistent with their specific needs and circumstances to help protect the health and safety of all poll workers and voters.

Recommended health protocols for voters:
1) Wear a face mask covering nose and mouth. If a poll worker needs to verify identity of the voter, they will ask for the mask to be removed briefly then replaced for the duration of the voting process. Masks will be provided if needed.
2) Disinfect hands upon entering and exiting the voting area along with practicing cough etiquette, cleanliness and sanitation.
3) Maintain at least six feet of physical distance between all others, where possible.
4) Use the clear glove provided to check in and vote on equipment.
5) Voters age 65 and older and voters who have pre-existing health conditions should consider staying at home and submitting an Application for Ballot by Mail (deadline for return of application is July 2), or voting curbside from their vehicles.
6) Self-screen before going to the polling place. Voters exhibiting any CDC-listed symptoms associated with COVID-19 should consider utilizing curbside voting at the polling place.

Recommended health protocols for poll workers:
1) Face shields, masks and gloves will be provided to the poll workers.
2) Consistently disinfect items that come into contact with voters.
3) Poll workers will self-screen for any CDC-listed symptoms before entering the polling place.
4) To the extent possible, maintain at least six feet between others at the polling place.
5) Arrange polling place and mark floor to allow voters to maintain six feet of separation from others.

Voting by Mail: A voter is eligible to vote early by mail if they are a registered voter who:
A. Is 65 years of age or older on Election Day;
B. Has a disability or illness defined as a sickness or a physical condition that prevents voter from appearing at the polling place without a likelihood of needing personal assistance or injuring voter’s health;
C. Expects to be out of the county during the hours that voting is conducted during early voting in person and on Election Day. An out of county address and the begin/end dates voter will receive mail at this address must be provided;
D. Is confined in jail, but eligible to vote due to 1) serving a misdemeanor sentence and will not be released prior to Election Day, or 2) pending trial or appeal after denial of bail or without bail or where release on bail before Election Day is unlikely.

To vote by mail, voters must first apply for a ballot. Applications are available by calling 903-893-8683 or visiting the Elections page on the county website. Applications must be received in our office mail by July 2, 2020.

Voting In Person During Early Voting for the Primary Runoff Election:
It is recommended voters appearing in person to vote do so during the two weeks of early voting and to arrive at non-peak times (mid-day and mid-afternoon) if possible to help social distancing and avoiding lines.

Early voting Dates and Times:
Monday – Thursday, June 29-July, 8am to 5pm
CLOSED Friday and Saturday, July 3-4
Sunday, July 5, noon to 5pm
Monday – Friday, July 6-10, 7am to 7pm

Early voting Sites:
Sherman, Election Administration, 115 W. Houston
Denison, Grayson County Sub-Courthouse, 101 W. Woodard
Pottsboro, ISD Administration, 105 Cardinal
Whitesboro City Hall, 111 W. Main
Van Alstyne, Grayson College South Campus, 1455 W. Van Alstyne Pkwy

Voting In Person on Election Day for the Primary Runoff Election:
Voter centers listed below will be open from 7:00am to 7:00pm on July 14, 2020. All eligible registered voters in Grayson County may vote at any of the Election Day sites.

Bells	Bells City Hall	203 S. Broadway
Collinsville	Collinsville Community Building	117 N. Main
Denison	Grayson College, Gym foyer	6101 Grayson Dr
Denison	Grayson County Sub-Courthouse	101 W. Woodard
Denison	Parkside Baptist Church, Fellowship Hall	301 N. Lillis Lane
Gunter	First Baptist Church	99 Gentle Creek Lane
Howe	Howe Community Center	700 W. Haning
Pottsboro	Pottsboro ISD Administration Bldg., Board Mtg. Room	105 Cardinal Lane
Sherman	Election Administration Building	115 W. Houston
Sherman	Texoma Council of Governments, Eisenhower Room	1117 Gallagher Dr
Sherman	United Way of Grayson County	713 E. Brockett
Tom Bean	First National Bank, Edwards Community Room	109 S. Britton
Van Alstyne	Grayson College South Campus, Room 203	1455 W. Van Alstyne Pkwy
Whitesboro	Whitesboro City Hall	111 W. Main
Whitewright	Church of Christ, Fellowship Hall	606 S. Carter

Howe police responded to a report of a gunshot victim at a residence in the 700 block of North Collins Freeway early Thursday morning. Grayson County Sheriff’s Office dispatch received a 911 call at 2:56 a.m. from a person reporting that a 22-year-old male shot himself inside his home. Police say the victim was alive when they arrived on scene and that one of the victim’s roommates was providing him with lifesaving measures.

Van Alstyne emergency medical personnel responded to the scene and continued lifesaving efforts until an air medivac arrived. Grayson County Sheriff’s Deputies assisted by shutting down vehicle traffic on the east access of U.S. Highway 75 in order for the air ambulance to land. The victim was then flown to a metroplex hospital.

The incident is still under investigation.

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Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced Wednesday he would be sending cities, counties, transit systems, and special purpose taxing districts $690.4 million in local sales tax allocations for June, 11.7 percent less than in June 2019. These allocations are based on sales made in April by businesses that report tax monthly.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread social distancing requirements were in place across much of the state in April, leading to the steepest year-over-year decline in allocations since September 2009.  However, in North Texas, the small towns had record highs.  Van Alstyne showed the sharpest growth with a whopping 98.95 percent by hauling in $254,029 which is nearly $100,000 more than in any previous month in the city’s history.  Van Alstyne’s previous high was $158,937 which was in February of this year.

In Howe, the increase was 22.8 percent from the same period a year ago which totaled $32,971.07, a record high for this period.

Howe’s Economic Development Director Monte Walker says the community members understood the necessity of shopping locally during that difficult time and it showed heavily.  Acknowledging the ease of skipping to nearby Sherman to make purchases, Howe proved to prospect businesses that they can support their own which goes a long way in the recruiting process for additional businesses such as a grocer which is the number one target Howe wants to provide for the citizens.

Each local town had its own “shop local” program which helped sparked the local spending.  Howe’s Chamber of Commerce displayed yard signs with #howeproud on top of the “V” which represented the victory light in downtown Howe.  The light, which is usually only lit for a varsity football win, was turned on for the entire month of May.

The Howe Enterprise also partnered with local businesses and purchased gift certificates to local restaurants and had egg hunts for the prizes.  The Enterprise also ran no-charge ads for a few businesses in the commercial district during the shutdown.

While the small towns saw heavy increases in local spending during the shutdown, the large city shopping hubs saw declines.  Sherman and Gainesville which are continually the heavy-hitters in sales tax receipts, each saw steep losses with Sherman down half a million from the previous month and nearly $300,000 from the same month a year ago. 

City	Change from same period in 2019
Van Alstyne	98.95%
Gunter	67.93%
Collinsville	48.83%
Dorchester	48.42%
Celina	47.91%
Savoy	44.15%
Ector	40.30%
Leonard	34.58%
Whitesboro	33.37%
Oak Ridge	22.95%
Howe	22.80%
Tom Bean	22.71%
Tioga	21.56%
Whitewright	16.45%
Anna	12.46%
Pottsboro	12.05%
Bonham	9.14%
Denison	7.99%
Melissa	-0.59%
Southmayd	-1.12%
Gainesville	-9.86%
Sherman	-16.47%
Bells	-55.67%

(AUSTIN) — Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar today said state sales tax revenue totaled $2.61 billion in May, 13.2 percent less than in May 2019 and the steepest year-over-year decline since January 2010.

The majority of May sales tax revenue is based on sales made in April and remitted to the agency in May. Widespread social distancing requirements were in place across much of the state throughout April.

“Significant declines in sales tax receipts were evident in all major economic sectors, with the exception of telecommunications services,” Hegar said. “The steepest decline was in collections from oil and gas mining, as energy companies cut well drilling and completion spending following the crash in oil prices.

“The business closures and restrictions and stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic spurred deep drops in collections from restaurants, amusement and recreation services, and physical retail stores. These declines were offset in part by increases from big box retailers and grocery stores that remained open as essential businesses, online retailers and restaurants that could readily pivot to takeout and delivery service.

“With the easing of state and local government social distancing orders beginning in May, business activity in the sectors most affected by measures to curb the pandemic should begin to slowly recover, but operations resuming at reduced capacity will result in continued reductions in employment, income and activity subject to sales tax for months to come.”

Sales tax is the largest source of state funding for the state budget, accounting for 57 percent of all tax collections, but the effects of the economic slowdown and low oil prices were evident in other sources of revenue in May 2020. Texas collected the following revenue from other major taxes:

• motor vehicle sales and rental taxes — $265 million, down 38 percent from May 2019 and a modest improvement over April’s results;
• motor fuel taxes — $221 million, down 30 percent from May 2019 and the steepest drop since 1989;
• natural gas production tax — $31 million, down 76 percent from May 2019;
• oil production tax — $90 million, the lowest monthly amount since July 2010, down 75 percent from May 2019 and the steepest drop since a 77 percent drop in March 1988;
• hotel occupancy tax — $8 million, down 86 percent from May 2019 and the steepest drop on record in data going back to 1982; and
• alcoholic beverage taxes — $28 million, down 76 percent from May 2019 and the steepest drop on record in data going back to 1980.

The Comptroller extended the due date for franchise tax payments this year from May 15 to July 15, meaning that comparisons to May 2019 collections are uninformative. The Comptroller’s office detailed other COVID-19 impacts to the Texas economy, including the skyrocketing claims for unemployment benefits, in the most recent edition of Fiscal Notes

Now that the Howe ISD Board of Trustees has approved a 3 percent increase in pay for teachers, attention has been shifted to the continued upgrade of facilities. Howe High School is undergoing a transformation to move the office to the front entrance and the middle school and intermediate schools were both renovated a year ago. Now the attention has turned to Bulldog Stadium and if Howe Bulldogs fans ever wanted artificial turf on the field at Bulldog Stadium, it appears the window is cracked open for such an idea like never before.  The board, on Monday night, discussed options for repairing or rebuilding the track at Bulldog Stadium.  Three companies gave the ISD bids on the project. Two of the companies said the track needed to be demolished and rebuilt.  One company said that the track could be repaired as is, but it would be a 5-year fix.  The repair would be half the cost of a full replacement which is in the $700K-$850K range.  Superintendent Kevin Wilson said he’d have a hard time recommending an expenditure of $350K for a short-term fix.

The infrastructure of the 35-year-old original project is failing especially with the outside lane that has become virtually unusable in front of the west side home bleachers due to safety concerns. 

“A new track should last 20-plus years,” said Wilson. “This opens up a new can of worms which is if you redo the track, should you put turf on the field?”

The conversation started with the options of turfing the field in conjunction with the rebuild, but also the conversation made its way to a full-scale project with an 8-lane competition track. 

An 8-lane track would call for a domino effect of projects that would have to take place for that to happen including a tear-down of the current concession stand and home bleachers.  Another hurdle in the way of a massive overhaul is a projected price tag of $2-3 million or more which smashes against available bond capacity. 

“If you want to host a big track meet, everyone has 8-lanes,” said Wilson.  “Six lanes is certainly adequate for our meets.  It’s just if you want to make it a major project, that (8-lanes) would be the logical thing to do.  If you’re going to do the full meal deal, you’re probably looking a bond issue.  In today’s economy, I personally think that would be a tough sell.”

One question asked from Board member Tamela Shadden was if an 8-lane track could be constructed at the high school on Ponderosa Road.  Wilson said that the practice field might have to be reconfigured and bleachers and lights installed, but all options were on the table.

The most likely option it seems would include a complete rebuild of the current track to its existing 6-lane track.  The school has budgeted $500,000 for the project.

“If we decided to move forward this year, I feel like we could find the extra money to make that happen.”

Athletic Director Bill Jehling has made it no secret that he’d prefer to have a turf football field which would provide non-muddy practice surfaces for other sports as well as the band and allows savings on uniform wear and tear.  He says it’s increasingly harder and harder to find good young coaches willing to mow and paint and stripe a grass field. 

The Howe Youth Sports Association says field conditions have cost them many times over the years from hosting games and playoffs which is a big funding portion of their non-profit organization. 

The stadium went through many upgrades beginning in 2014 with a new press box and the removal of the old field house the construction of a new locker-room.  Those upgrades took place when Howe shared the district with Tom Bean, Whitewright, S&S, and Leonard who have natural grass playing surfaces.  Now that Howe has been elevated to Division I for a number of years, they are playing the likes of Rains, Commerce, Bonham, Pottsboro, Mineola, and others that are turf.  The stadium also tends to be somewhat of a reflection of community pride and Howe has a small window to do it now.  The Bulldogs also look around at neighboring teams of their size with turf such as Bells, Gunter, Tioga, Whitesboro, Blue Ridge, and Honey Grove.

The board made no decision in a direction and the 3-month project would not begin until after the football season in the fall (should that happen).  If scheduled during that time, it could be ready by the time track season begins in 2021.