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January 18, 2022 - Officials with the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, Angelina National Forest, have advised a prescribed burn today located in Compartment 62 (BLOCKS A & B) 1205 acres, near FM 2743 in and around the Caney Creek Recreational area. Winds are predicted from the South at 9-18 mph.
Also, please be advised, long range drift SMOKE may affect some of the areas.
January 14, 2022 - The Shelby County Commissioners approved the sale of several gaming machines January 5, 2022, which were seized during a raid of a fuel station and house on September 5, 2021.
Shelby County constables, assisted by other agencies, located the machines during the raids and eventually an agreement with the former owners attorney and Gary Rholes, Shelby County Attorney, resulted in an order from LeAnn Rafferty, 123rd Judicial District Judge, authorizing the machines to be relinquished to the county along with several thousand dollars which were recovered.
The county was seeking bids on the machines following approval of the commissioners' court on December 8, 2021.
Shelby County Judge Allison Harbison opened the sealed bid during the meeting and announced the only bid to be from a Larry McCauley of San Augustine for the amount of $110 per machine for a total of $1,760.
It was discussed and agreed on for the buyer to be required to sign an agreement they would not take the machines to a location where the machines would be used illegally, as indicated by an opinion from the Texas Attorney General's office
A motion carried by the commissioners to accept the bid.
Tracy Rook with Texas Premier Communications addressed the court and stated their radio communication project has been completed.
"We're completely finished, all sites are installed, all sites are up and running," said Rook. "We've done radio tests with portable coverage inside the vehicle and basically all the way around the whole county."
He said the coverage didn't result in what was expected in Huxley; however, there is mobile coverage but not portable coverage. He said this was due to the water tower being shorter than expected.
"We've got a little bit of portable coverage in Joaquin, but there's not a whole lot, there's more mobile coverage," said Rook.
Rook recommended putting a tower up, because he's not sure how much longer the water tower in Shelbyville is going to be standing.
"It needs to be put in the budget for within the next five years of getting something to replace that," said Rook. "They're not maintaining it ever since I think it's 30 years that it had a hole shot in it, and they haven't done any kind of painting, sand blasting or anything to maintain that and the ladder on it's getting pretty rusty."
Rook did agree with Judge Harbison a tower in the Joaquin area should help improve communications more and he thinks a complete transmitter would be beneficial in Huxley.
"We have seen a very, very significant improvement in our radios," said Sheriff Kevin Windham.
Sheriff Windham remarked on a call they recently had been on west of Timpson close to the Rusk County line and previous to the recent upgrades there was no communication possible in that area.
Roy Cheatwood, Constable Precinct 3, agreed with Sheriff Windham on the radios being much improved. He said he continued to have issues with communications in the Sand Isle Community and near the perimeter of the school and in the Rolling Hills Community.
A motion carried to approve and pay the weekly expenses which included the payment to Texas Premier Communications for the radio repairs.
Agenda items approved during the meeting include: 1. Pay weekly expenses. 2. Current payroll. 3. Bid for gaming machines in the amount of $1,760. 4. Adjourn.
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Janaury 14, 2022 - Center Independent School District is going to close school from Monday, January 17, 2022 until Wednesday, January 19, 2022. As with many organizations we have people who have caught COVID, the Flu, Strep and other communicable diseases. At this time, we are having a difficult time covering all of our classes.
Monday, January 17, 2022, Center ISD was scheduled to be out in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We have decided to remain closed Tuesday and Wednesday of next week in an effort for some to get over their sickness and return to work. We also plan to have our facilities deep cleaned by our custodial services.
Our main problem is covering classes. We will continue extracurricular activities, as long as the coaches, sponsors, and students stay well.
Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
Sincerely,
Dr. Brian Morris
January 14, 2022 - Due to the number of active COVID-19 cases affecting our staff and students and in an effort to mitigate the potential for significant spread among our Excelsior Family, we will be closing our campus of Excelsior ISD for the beginning of next week. This closure will provide for the safety of our students and staff; as well as to make certain that we have appropriate staff available for the campus. We are currently working with the custodial department to ensure that all equipment and buildings are cleaned and sanitized before the return of students on Thursday, January 20, 2022.
The district will be closed Monday, January 17, through Wednesday, January 19, and we expect to reopen Thursday, January 20. Please stay informed on Shelby County Today for more information in case the situation changes.
We ask that you use this time to quarantine and screen your children at home. If your child should test positive for COVID-19, please contact the campus 936-598-5866.
Excelsior ISD’s priority remains the safety and well-being of our students and staff.
January 14, 2022 - Elections are upon us! If you are 65 or older, disabled, and would like to vote a ballot by mail, please contact the County Clerk's Office at 936-598-6361 to request an application. You can check the annual box on the application and you will be sent ballots for every election this year.
If you will be out of town during early voting and election day of the March 1st primary, please contact our office and we can mail you a ballot. Please note: If you request a ballot due to absence from the county, we will require an address outside of the county to mail your ballot to. Also, if you are voting by mail due to being out of town, you must contact our office before each election to request an application for ballot by mail.
Also note, the applications have changed this year. Please look at entire application and be sure to fill out all information to keep your application from being rejected and your ballot delayed.
If you have any questions whatsoever, please contact the County Clerk's Office at 936-598-6361.
January 14, 2022 - Officials with the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, Sabine National Forest, have advised a prescribed burn today located in Compartments 42/43/44/48 (BLOCKS A, B and C) 2603 acres, with Helicopter support, which is located south of Forest Service Road 125 and 126.
Winds are predicted from the Southeast at 4-10 mph. Also, we advise a long range drift smoke may affect some of the areas.
Update: The Courthouse will be closed Friday, January 14, for Covid-19 cleaning.
All county offices will be closed Friday. The offices are closed Monday for MLK Day. All offices will be back open on Tuesday, January 18th.
Update: According to County Tax Assessor Collector Debora Riley, the Property Tax office and Vehicle Registration office is closed as well until Tuesday, January 18, 2022.
January 13, 2022 - According to District Clerk Lori Oliver, the Shelby County District Clerk's Office is closed until Tuesday, January 18, 2022, due to COVID exposure.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
January 13, 2022 - According to the Texas DSHS Covid-19 Dashboard, the surge in Covid-19 cases has surpassed the four hundred mark with 438 estimated active cases. Today's numbers continue setting a new record high in number of active cases and brings the record setting to a full week.
There were 57 new cases reported and 13 new recoveries.
January 13th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 12)
Confirmed Cases - 2,002 (22 new)
Probable Cases - 1,495 (35 new)
Fatalities - 115
Active Cases (Estimated) - 438
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,945 (13 new)
January 12, 2022 - A new daily record was once again set for highest number of estimated active cases with the Covid-19 Dashboard reporting 394 cases. There were 36 new cases reported since yesterday. No recoveries were reported therefore all the new cases added to the active number of cases driving the numbers closer to the 400 mark.
January 12th marks the sixth day for a new record high.
January 12th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 11)
Confirmed Cases - 1,980 (16 new)
Probable Cases - 1,460 (20 new)
Fatalities - 115
Active Cases (Estimated) - 394
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,932
January 11, 2022 - According to the Texas DSHS Covid-19 Dashboard, cases continue to surge in Shelby County setting a new record daily for number of active cases over the past five days. The previous record for the highest number of active cases was 237 active Covid-19 cases which was set Janaury 23, 2021.
Today, the estimated active case count for the county is 375. Below is a list of Active Cases over the past five days.
Estimated number of Active Cases of Covid-19
01/11/2022 - 375 (27 increase)
01/10/2022 - 348 (32 increase)
01/09/2022 - 316 (17 increase)
01/08/2022 - 299 (40 increase)
01/07/2022 - 259 (41 increase)
The Texas DSHS Covid-19 Dashboard reported 35 new cases on January 11th from the previous day. Of the new cases, 21 were confirmed cases and 14 were probable cases. Also, 8 new recoveries were reported.
January 11th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 10)
Confirmed Cases - 1,964 (21 new)
Probable Cases - 1,440 (14 new)
Fatalities - 115
Active Cases (Estimated) - 375
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,915 (8 new)
January 10th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 9)
Confirmed Cases - 1,943 (15 new)
Probable Cases - 1,426 (19 new)
Fatalities - 115
Active Cases (Estimated) - 348
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,907 (2 new)
January 9th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 8)
Confirmed Cases - 1,928 (18 new)
Probable Cases - 1,407 (2 new)
Fatalities - 115
Active Cases (Estimated) - 316
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,905 (3 new)
January 8th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 7)
Confirmed Cases - 1,910 (23 new)
Probable Cases - 1,405 (18 new)
Fatalities - 115 (1 new)
Active Cases (Estimated) - 299
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,902
January 7th Numbers: (Changes since Jan. 6)
Confirmed Cases - 1,887 (19 new)
Probable Cases - 1,387 (28 new)
Fatalities - 114
Active Cases (Estimated) - 259
Recovered (Estimated) - 2,902 (6 new)
January 13, 2022 - Due to the increasing spread of COVID, ALL visitation at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is suspended immediately until further notice.
January 13, 2022 - Officials with the National Forests and Grasslands in Texas, Sabine National Forest, have advised a prescribe burn, location in the Goober Hill Area, north of Forest Service
Road 125, and Forest Service Road 126.
Burn acres total 1,830 acres (Block A & B). Winds are predicted from the West 6 mph, Gusting to 11 mph.
Also, we advise a long range drift may affect some of the areas. This will be a hand burn. So please slowdown in this area.
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