Local Interest

Hospitals across north, central and east Texas are in daily contact with Carter BloodCare to verify that there is enough blood to perform all the surgeries and medical procedures on their schedules. Hospital patients are in jeopardy of not receiving the blood transfusions they need. 

Students, faculty and staff at all 11 Texas A&M System universities across the state will soon have quick and easy access to free testing for COVID-19.

“Ensuring the health and safety of our students is our top priority,” said John Sharp, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. “Facilitating increased accessibility and availability of COVID-19 testing will help us mitigate the spread and help to protect each other by taking preventative and proactive measures.”

There was a time, not too very long ago, when outsiders were allowed to visit the 88.9 KETR studio complex. And since February of 2013, one of the first faces those visitors would see was that of administrative assistant Cristy Boucher, who retired on May 29, 2020.

Cristy came to 88.9 KETR after a well-established career in support of higher education. A proud Aggie originally from the town of College Station, TX, Cristy had accumlated professional stops at Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech, and most recently, Plymouth State University.

From the official website for Hunt County:

From: Hunt County Judge

Date:3/27/2020

Re: Second COVID-19 Positive Result in Hunt County

Each year, radio and television stations across the state of Texas submit their very best work for consideration by the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters. Generally in April, an awards ceremony is held in Austin and journalists, videographers, producers, and anchors flock to 6th Street to learn who's work topped each category. This year, concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of the ceremony planned for April 4. As a result, the winners have been announced in a release - and 88.9 KETR is among the top-awarded stations in its division.

The Hunt County Commisioner's Court has issued a disaster declaration for the county that details a shelter-in-place, or "stay at home" order. The order goes into effect Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. and directs all non-essential employees and businesses to cease activity or stay at home except for essential activities and business. 

The Texas A&M University-Commerce Safety Office is asking students, faculty and staff returning from international travel on or after March 14 through specific airports to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Domestic travelers returning home, even through the same airports, are not being asked to quarantine at this time.

The text of the message follows:

KETR celebrates Black History Month with two evenings of special programs, coming up this Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-29.

Commerce residents might have noticed that Ryan Scott, who once cranked out multiple articles weekly for the Commerce Journal, is no longer in the news business. But, he hasn’t gone far. Scott is still in Commerce, and now works at the university. Journalists often refer to leaving journalism for public relations as “going to the dark side,” but many ex-journos find that they enjoy helping an organization or institution that they believe in, while enjoying the more regular work schedule that an office job provides. 

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has issued an urgent alert requesting the public’s help to find missing teen Brian Cox. The 17-year-old boy was last seen in Greenville, Texas on January 5th, 2020. Brian has a medical condition and may need medical attention. He is white with brown hair and hazel eyes. Brian is 5-foot-4 and weighs 120 pounds.

Jim Tyler Anderson, senior lecturer and playwright in residence in the department of Theatre at Texas A&M University-Commerce, died Monday, December 16th, according to an obituary page at the website of Commerce Funeral Home. Anderson was 62.

Texas A&M University-Commerce has announced that it is set to become a smoke-, vape- and tobacco-free campus on January 1, 2020.

Dr. Mark Rudin, president of A&M-Commerce, sent a letter to the university community on December 13 explaining the details of the decision and policy.

BONHAM, Texas — A suspect was arrested, and more than $105,000 in stolen property was recovered after an investigation by Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA) Special Ranger Troy McKinney and the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office.

For many years, local philanthropists, artists and volunteers have grabbed glue guns and taken on the role of seamstresses, designers and bra wranglers in hopes of raising money to purchase new equipment and offer services to those undergoing cancer treatment at Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville, TX. Bras for the Cause, now in its 11th year, will display those creations the evening of Thursday, October 10th, in Downtown Greenville. Last year, the event raised over $170,000, with every penny staying right in Hunt County. And volunteers are hard at work making sure this year’s event is a blockbuster with the theme “Hooray for Brallywood.”

A mini golf course has sprung up across from the Math Building on the campus of Texas A&M University-Commerce thanks to the efforts of art students attending a summer course at the school. 

In Commerce, police are investigating an apparent home invasion and robbery attempt that resulted in the shooting death of one of the suspects.

Public Notice

Staff and volunteers at the Fannin County Children’s Center are already hard at work for the 23rd annual School Supply Drive.  Students in Fannin County will head back to class starting as early as August 14.  

On Sunday, August 4, Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) crews will be replacing a message board on an overhead sign bridge on I-30 eastbound near the Franklin and Titus County Line. This will require the main traffic lanes on I-30 eastbound to be closed between 7 a.m. and noon, or until work is completed.

Property buyouts for the proposed Lake Ralph Hall in Fannin County should be completed in the near future.

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) approved by resolution financial assistance in the amount of $45.5 million from the State Water Implementation Revenue Fund for Texas (SWIFT) program to the Upper Trinity Regional Water District (Fannin, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton, Grayson, and Wise counties) yesterday. The District will use the assistance to finance land acquisition for the proposed Lake Ralph Hall reservoir and its raw water pipeline.

The Campbell Volunteer Fire Department will be celebrating 50 years of service July 20, and they want to invite the community to join in on the fun. CVFD will host its 50th anniversary party at the fire station this Saturday. The Department, formed in 1969, will have several former members, including some from the first year of operation, on hand to help celebrate the station’s anniversary. Assistant Chief Marcus Arvie told the Commerce Journal that this celebration is part of a continued effort to get more involvement from the community.