Shelby County Today

April 21, 2023 - ETEX, a telecommunications company, welcomed Shelby County Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors; City of Center representatives including the council, administration and Economic Development Corporation (EDC); community businesses; and residents to a ribbon cutting event on Friday, April 21, 2023 at their location on 301 Nacogdoches Street in Center.

The location is meant to house the new broadband technology the company is bringing to Center with plans to have the new system successfully running in early 2024. Chad Nehring, City of Center Manager, welcomed everyone to the rollout of a brand new product and availability of services for broadband and internet to citizens of the city.

“We’re very honored to be part of this partnership, we hope to demonstrate to be a model partnership to the state and to the federal government, because this is where the support is needed,” said Charlie Cano, General Manager/CEO of ETEX Telephone.

He stated he was pleased with the EDC and their willingness to move forward with the partnership with ETEX. Cano said ETEX would showcase a good provider has been chosen and they’re here to stay.

Mayor David Chadwick commended the Economic Development Corporation for their foresight in bringing a different level of communication to the community in Center. “We think this is a major step for development of our community, the communications that we need to draw and attract businesses to our community,” said Chadwick. “So we solute them for their wisdom and nerve to be able to commit to this amount of money to develop a program here.”

John Snider, EDC President, reflected on the journey that has brought the community to this point.

“Today we’re celebrating, we’re moving from the ‘planning/development’ and ‘how do we fund this stage’ over into now the ‘getting it done phase,’” said Snider.

Snider remarked on reaching out to other entities in the county to see if a larger project could be accomplished; however, for various reasons including timing, the larger project wasn’t feasible at that time.

“At the completion of the first phase, we should have over 2/3 of the City of Center connected to this project,” said Snider. “Phase two is already being discussed, and plans are already in place.”

Cano said he’s proud of the commitment ETEX has with rural communities and he highlighted his employees are from East Texas and they are dedicated to serving their friends and neighbors in East Texas.

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Lonnie Hunt, Deep East Texas Council of Governments Executive Director, and Jerri Jones, District Director for State Rep. Travis Clardy, were each on hand to welcome ETEX Communications to Center.

ETEX was established in 1952 by a group of farmers in Upshur County and now serves parts of 13 counties providing connectivity to thousands of East Texans, hundreds of cell towers, school districts and countless counties and cities.

April 13, 2023 (Photo Album) - To raise awareness of child abuse for April’s Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center with the sponsorship of Farmers State Bank and the help of the community released 130 butterlies at the annual Butterfly Release on the downtown square in Center on Thursday, April 13, 2023.

The events theme, “Stand together in the fight against child abuse,” was highlighted by Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison in her welcome to everyone to the Historic Courthouse square. “I would like to recognize Shelby County Children’s Advocacy Center by thanking Director Denise Merriman and her wonderful staff, for all of their hard work supporting our children and their families who have been in crisis. It is our hope that one day their agency will be obsolete and there is no more abuse or neglect of our most precious natural resources - our children. So welcome to this wonderful life affirming event in honor of April being National Child Abuse Prevention Month.”

Judge Harbison also gave special appreciation to law enforcement in the county who work along side the Advocacy Center. Those mentioned included the Sheriff’s Department, Center Police Department, and the District Attorney Office.

City of Center Mayor David Chadwick also addressed everyone, sharing the work being done helps those impacted by abuse and lets them know they are not alone. “These professionals jointly investigate and prosecute child abuse cases while supporting children and their families with services and healing through our Children’s Advocacy Center.”

Chadwick shared that events like the butterfly release help create awareness around the complex problem of child abuse and change the conversation to keep all children in Shelby County safe from abuse. He then shared the Indian Legend of the butterfly. The butterfly is symbolic of the gesture that we try to instill in a child to tell someone what their problems are. According to the legend, by making a wish and giving the butterfly its freedom, the wish will be taken to the heavens to be granted.

Everyone then opened envelopes with the dormant, sleepy butterflies inside and released them.

​Resources:

• Shelbycountycac.com - Shelby County Children's Advocacy Center
• CACTX.org - Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas
• Childwelfare.gov - National child Abuse Prevention Month 2020 Strong and Thriving Families
• Preventchildabuse.org - 2020 Child Abuse Prevention Month

April 14, 2023 - The Center Garden Club is on the inside of the Center downtown historic square on the Nacogdoches Street side with a variety of plants to sell for their annual plant sale. They will be there until 12 noon today, April 14, 2023.

A wide variety of plants are available, such as succulents, bromeliads, Kalanchoes, begonias, verbenas, stagleaf ferns, etc., as well many indigenous plants. All offered at VERY reasonable pricing.

Do come early while the plant selection is at its best; you are sure to find many of Nature’s delights that can be yours!

April 10, 2023 - The Tenaha Police Department has received a supply of Narcan to help in the event a citizen has been the victim of an overdose of an opioid, or in the event an officer has been exposed to such a substance while performing their duties.

Abigail Riley, BSN, RN, with Christus Health, was informed of the need and made the connection to be able to help bring Narcan to Tenaha.

“I was told that they needed some Narcan,” said Riley. “At Christus we have started a program where, since we’re not for profit, we’re still able to get government funding for Narcan where for law enforcement the funding has been really cut.”

Riley is able to order the Narcan, and through Christus, is able to provide Narcan to places in need. She delivers the supply, and then helps train the officers who would likely utilize it on how to identify signs and symptoms, as well as how to administer the lifesaving drug.

Tenaha’s location in Shelby County at an intersection of major U.S. highways, increases the likelihood of illegal substances traveling through, and therefore the need for Narcan should someone be exposed to an opioid.

“Especially here being on 59, I feel like this is probably a really important place to have some,” said Riley. “I think there is actually a shortage of Narcan currently and, so anyway we can help in the community that’s our goal.”

Illegal substances are constantly being addressed by law enforcement agencies, and with a higher prevalence of Fentanyl being reported nationwide, exposure is of great concern to officers.

“If they were to come across something and come across Fentanyl in the air and breathe it in they would need to be able to dose themselves,” said Riley.

Tenaha Police Chief Scott Burkhalter agrees the danger is constant to members of the community, and different forms of drugs are a major issue in Shelby County.

“People are OD’ing all the time, I’ve taken personally 10 calls since I’ve been here [at Tenaha PD] of possible OD,” said Chief Burkhalter. “EMS could be busy, or a little ways away, so this will be handy for that.”

There are several different delivery systems for Narcan, but the boxes that have been provided by Christus are delivered to the patient nasally. An added bonus of the Narcan, is there aren’t supposed to be any negative effects from the drug.

Riley explained how simple the Narcan nasal doses are to administer right out of the box, but they can be expensive for a law enforcement agency to budget at $100 a box, which could potentially go toward one incident. She said she has a soft spot for law enforcement officers with her brother also being an officer, and she likes the community aspect of helping to provide the Narcan where it’s needed most.

Riley helped describe how the Narcan works as an opiod antagonist and helps the patient to fight back against an addictive substance like Hydrocodone, Oxycontin, or Fentanyl.

“The opiod in that is going to bind to receptors and this knocks those opioids off the receptor and it’s going to bind to the receptor instead of the opioid,” said Riley. “The problem is, opioids usually have a longer life in your system than these, so you might have to do multiple doses depending on how much opioid you have in your system.”

As the symptoms of someone overdosing increase, the need for someone to receive a dose of Narcan becomes greater.
This article is copied from Shelby County Today without permission.
“When you’re overdosing on opioid typically you start having shallower breathing, lower heart-rate, you might pass out,” said Riley. “You might stop breathing completely, and so knocking those opioids of your receptors and getting this there is going to get you breathing, and hopefully it lasts for the EMS to get there, if not you have two in the box.”

Common opioid drugs which officers and citizens may come into contact include:

• Morphine: MSir, Avinza, Kadian, MS Contin, Oramorph SR, Embeda
• Oxymorphone: Opana IR, Opana ER
• Fentanyl; Actiq, Duragesic, Mylan
• Methadone: Dolophine, Methadose
• Hydromorphone: Dilaudid, Exalgo
• Meperidine: Demerol, Mepergan
• Buprenorphine: Suboxone, Subutex, Zubsolv, Bunavail, Butrans
• Sufentanil: Dsuvia
• Tramadol: Ultram, Ultram ER, Ultracet
• Codeine, Tylenol #3 and #4, Tylenol with Codeine, TyCo
• Hydrocodone: Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, Norco, Compounded SR, Zohydro
• Propoxyphene: Darvon, Darvocet
• Tapentaol: Nucynta
• Oxycodone: OxyIR, Percocet, Tylox, OxyContin, Roxicodone, Percodan
• Heroin