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Trinity County News - Breakout

Few surprises in primary vote

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ElectionResults1 STOCK

By Tony Farkas
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GROVETON — There is very little different in the county’s representation following the March 5 primary election.

Incumbent Pete Sessions has the GOP nod for District 17 U.S. Representative, receiving 67,639 votes to challenger Joseph T. Langone, who received 5,871. He will face Mark Lorenzen, who gained 13,837 in his unopposed bid for the Democratic candidacy.

Incumbent Trent Ashby’s 2,323 votes outpaced challenger Paulette Carson’s 550 in the county, and Ashby went on to win the nomination in the District 9 State Representative race 24,268 to 5,274. The win guarantees his election as there are no Democrat candidates.

Ashby said it is the honor of a lifetime — one he does not take lightly — to have earned the trust of the folks living in House District 9 to continue serving as their voice in Austin.

“From the very onset, this campaign has focused on delivering a positive message to voters, and I’m pleased to see the voters of House District 9 reaffirm our message by overwhelmingly rejecting the critical cynicism that occurs far too often in our political process,” he said. “I’d like to thank my wife and my family for their support, my staff for their hard work and dedication, and most importantly, the good people of Angelina, Houston, Polk, San Augustine, Trinity, and Tyler counties for their support.”

Ashby said he will work to represent Deep East Texas with honesty, integrity, and humility to promote and protect the interests of the region.

In other contested races, incumbent Neal Smith won over Lee McBunch 540-202 for the County Commissioner Precinct 3 post; Mark Jones won over incumbent Carl Casey 488-244 for Constable Precinct 3; and Scott Womack retained his post as Republican County Chair by winning over Stephen McNeely 1,439-1,014.

The Democratic Party had no local candidates on the ballot.

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Woman faces felony charges for grade changing

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abshier arrest

By Tony Farkas

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GROVETON — An employee of the Groveton school district was arrested Wednesday for allegedly altering grades.

Breanna Faye Abshier, 35, is facing a third-degree felony charge of tampering with a government record. She is listed on the Groveton ISD website as the registrar for the junior high and high schools.

According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, Texas Rangers were alerted to the case by Trinity County Sheriff Woody Wallace and Chief Deputy Jeremy Carroll on Feb. 26 that a student’s grade averages and class rankings were believed to have been manipulated.

The affidavit states that approximately 145 entries were changed between the 2021-22 school year and the current year.

Texas Ranger Christopher Cash met with school officials, who told police that the suspects job duties included using the schools’ Ascender software to change grades, but only with teacher authorization.

The affidavit states that the changes were made without authorization, changed a student’s class rank from around 15th of 56 students to fifth; the adjustments were made to the student's class average for a 6-week period, which would then affect that student's semester average for that class.

The timestamp information within the system pointed to the suspect, the affidavit states.

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Groveton schools still vibrant place

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Groveton ISD logo 250By Dr. Jo AnnAnderson Beken

I hope you are able to follow our Facebook page, as well as the Groveton Athletics page. Amazing things are happening in so many areas in Groveton ISD and our kids continue to wow us.

We are so grateful for the efforts of the staff and teachers in Groveton ISD who work endlessly to offer quality programs for our students. We often think that news is mostly bad news; however, there is lots of good news on our Ex-Students’ page celebrating the accomplishments and honors of our current Groveton kids as well as some former GHS ‘kids’ and their families. Visit us on Facebook for all of the good news.

•Our college students are working hard to complete their Spring classes in a successful way. I am so proud of their efforts and am hopeful they will reach their goals for this semester. We have shared with them their application information in order to apply for 24-25 scholarships and the deadline for applying is April 15.

Also, our current GHS seniors will also be applying for scholarships and their deadline is also April 15. We will plan a meeting in May to consider applications and award scholarships to our applicants. The results of this meeting will be announced at graduation, which is May 30.

•The homecoming game for this year will be played on Sept. 27. This year is “Big” homecoming. We will play Frankston and we will have lots of activities planned for the weekend. We will be asking for input from the school and community to determine a theme as we get closer to the event.

Please plan a reunion/class meeting to catch up with your classmates from days gone by. Kathleen and the staff at GHS will reserve a room for your class to meet.

A complete, detailed schedule for homecoming will be developed and distributed as time gets closer. A Smoke Signal publication will be created, chronicling the highlights of GHS and homecoming. We will be selling ads so that we can create a great publication for the 2024 homecoming celebration.

The Ex-Students Association will welcome you at registration on the morning of Sept. 27, and it is a great opportunity to visit with other graduates as they come and go during the day. The pep rally will be that afternoon and we will have our biennial business meeting at 3 pm that day. That night, the homecoming queen will be crowned, and an after-game dance will be held in downtown Groveton. It is a fun time. Please come and enjoy the events of homecoming.

On Saturday morning, we will sponsor a homecoming parade. There will be lots of floats and fun for everyone. Winners will earn cash prizes. That afternoon, we will hold an induction reception for those honored as Hall of Fame recipients. Those people will be determined through a nomination process. A committee will meet, review applications, and select honorees. We will celebrate them on Saturday afternoon. If you have questions about how to nominate a deserving person, the information is on the Groveton ISD website and/or you can call me. I’ll be glad to help.

•Sadly, we have lost some of our Groveton Indian family since my last article. They are Jo Ann Stokely Hogg, class of 1956; Frances Jones Dial, class of 1950; Enda Jo Dickey Thompson, class of 1964; and William D. (Bill) Tubbs, class of 1963. Each of these people contributed positively to our lives and we are forever grateful for them. Our thoughts and prayers are for their brokenhearted friends and families. We wish for comfort and peace for all of them.

Best wishes for a wonderful and healthy Spring. Please keep our Groveton kids, staff, and faculty in your prayers as they move through this semester.

Dr. Jo Ann Anderson Beken is President of the Groveton Ex-Student’s Association.

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City audit shows lower revenues, expenses

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groveton texas city limits 250By Tony Farkas
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GROVETON — Groveton City Council members were informed about the state of the city’s finances, and while its practices were fine, revenue and assets have decreased.

Kim Johnson of Todd, Hamaker and Johnson reported that there were no findings, but there were some recommendations for changes in city policy. The board was urged to hire an investment officer to review policies each year.

Revenues were reported down $17,000 while expenses were up $128,000, but the city had enough funds to cover any shortfalls and has $502,000 in the general fund.

In all, Johnson said the city is OK to continue operations as normal.

In other business, the council:

•approved payment of the Inframark bill of $7,489.71;

•approved a contract with Community Unlimited for assistance with water and wastewater needs, at no cost to the city;

•approved a $14,065 contract for an inventory of all water pipes in the city for lead and copper content; and

•approved a contract with Brandon Fielder Collins and Mott for collection of delinquent balances owned to the city.

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County fair comes to the Y

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FAIR LOGO

TCNS staff

GROVETON — The 2024 Trinity County Fair & Youth Livestock Show will be held March 14-16 at the Fairgrounds in Groveton at the Y at the junction of U.S. 287 and State Highway 94.

The theme for this year’s event is “lnvesting in the Leaders of Tomorrow.”

 

Schedule of Events

March 14

8-11 a.m. — Check in for all shop projects (bidding starts after judging and runs to 3 p.m. — Saturday)

4 p.m. — steers must be in arena

4-5 p.m. — sift and weigh steers

March 15

7-10 a.m. — check-in for all other market animals

Noon — Commercial Heifer written test; broiler competition

1 p.m. — fryer competition

3 p.m. — lamb competition

4 p.m. — goat competition

6 p.m. — swine competition

March 16

7 a.m. — Commercial Heifer competition

8-9 a.m. — Check in for all Home Economics projects (bidding starts after check-in and runs to 3 p.m.)

9 a.m. — Steer competition

10 a.m. — Halter Heifer show

11:30 a.m. — pet show

12:30 p.m. — No Limits show

4:30 p.m. — awards presentation

5 p.m. — Premium Market Auction

 

For more information contact: Chad Arbuckle, president, at (936) 852-3395; Kyle Campbell, first vice president, at (936) 465-6013; Jeff Sottosanti, second vice president, at (214) 551-0131; Melissa Randall, secretary, at (936) 661-7056; or Rebecca Cockrell, treasurer, at (936) 707-3946.

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